Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Earns Buy Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $475.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 48.38% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on GOOG. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $379.00 target price (down from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $411.30.

Alphabet Trading Down 6.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $21.78 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $320.13. 26,283,865 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,443,914. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $363.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $337.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $188.70 and a 52-week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $6.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 29,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,381,000 after buying an additional 2,341 shares during the last quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 275,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,850 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,060,000 after acquiring an additional 4,239 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 190,654 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $59,827,000 after purchasing an additional 15,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Violich Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $106,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud delivered a major revenue and growth beat, reinforcing that Alphabet’s AI investments are driving real enterprise demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts kept bullish ratings and only modestly trimmed price targets, signaling Wall Street still sees meaningful upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini is nearing another billion-user milestone, highlighting strong adoption across Alphabet’s AI ecosystem.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet launched new Gemini model updates and security features, including video-selfie account recovery, which are incremental product improvements.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher AI capex and negative free cash flow are driving investor concern that spending is outrunning short-term monetization.
• Negative Sentiment: The EU imposed an approximately $1 billion antitrust fine on Google over Search and Play Store practices, adding regulatory pressure.

About Alphabet

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.