Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the thirty-nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $410.0909.

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price objective (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

GOOG opened at $343.94 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $352.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $339.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. Alphabet has a one year low of $197.46 and a one year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $130,704,718,000 after buying an additional 5,164,200 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,712,878,000 after buying an additional 953,790 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after buying an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Gemini 3.7 Flash, an AI model designed for software coding and automated business workflows. The release reinforces Alphabet’s push to monetize Gemini across developers and enterprise customers, although investors are still awaiting the flagship Pro model. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to point to Alphabet’s strong fundamentals, including 24% year-over-year second-quarter revenue growth, a substantial Cloud backlog and elevated analyst price targets. The company’s profitability provides financial capacity to fund data centers, chips and other AI infrastructure. Zacks article
• Positive Sentiment: Several major institutions disclosed new or larger Alphabet positions in second-quarter filings, including JPMorgan, Norges Bank, Capital World Investors and Capital Research. These purchases suggest continued institutional confidence in Alphabet’s long-term AI and cloud opportunity, though 13F data is reported with a delay. Quiver Quantitative article
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s Pixel 11 lineup, Pixel Watch 5 and Pixel Tag expand its hardware ecosystem and integrate more Gemini features. However, Pixel prices are rising by $100 because of higher memory-chip costs, creating uncertainty around demand and hardware margins. Yahoo Finance article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that projected AI capital expenditures of roughly $195 billion-$205 billion in 2026 could pressure free cash flow before new capacity produces sufficient returns. Alphabet also faces competitive and execution risks as its Gemini Pro launch appears delayed and senior AI personnel have departed. Quiver Quantitative article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple funds, including Franklin Resources, Federated Hermes, Magellan Asset Management and David Abrams’s firm, reduced Alphabet holdings. A law firm is also investigating potential investor claims, adding a modest legal overhang, although no allegations or liability have been established. Yahoo Finance article

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.