Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifty-four ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $413.1329.

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. China Renaissance increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, New Street Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $368.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $162.00 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $367.04 and a 200-day moving average of $331.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being viewed as a major AI winner thanks to ongoing investment in AI infrastructure and data centers, which could support future cloud and AI revenue growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Berkshire Hathaway nearly tripled its Alphabet position may be seen as a strong vote of confidence from a major long-term investor. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage emphasizing Alphabet’s strong earnings and expanding Google Cloud backlog supports the case for continued fundamental improvement. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s stock is drawing increased investor attention and analyst commentary, but these are mostly sentiment-driven mentions rather than new company-specific catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Noam Shazeer, a top Google DeepMind/Gemini AI leader, is leaving for OpenAI, underscoring the competitive AI talent war. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: John Jumper is also departing Google DeepMind for Anthropic, adding to concerns that Alphabet may be losing key AI researchers. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo’s recall of nearly 3,900 robotaxis after construction-zone driving errors raises safety and regulatory concerns for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle business. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The UK ordering Google to improve search-ranking transparency highlights continued regulatory scrutiny over its core search business. Article Title

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,605. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.