Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded up 1.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $316.30 and last traded at $315.68. 13,825,885 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 23,837,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.33.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet agreed to buy data‑center and clean‑energy developer Intersect for about $4.75 billion in cash (plus assumed debt) to secure gigawatts of generation and faster build‑out of AI data centers — a direct response to power bottlenecks that could remove a key constraint on Google Cloud and Gemini scale. Alphabet to buy Intersect in $4.75B deal (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street continues to raise targets and maintain bullish ratings — e.g., Wedbush lifted its price target to $350 while Citi and other firms reiterated buys — reinforcing institutional confidence in Alphabet’s AI/cloud growth story. Wedbush Raises PT on Alphabet (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: Product and cloud momentum persists: Google’s Gemini 3 Flash launch and large enterprise wins (including expanded security deals) bolster the company’s position as an AI software and services leader — supporting revenue scalability and monetization of AI features across ad and cloud businesses. Google launches Gemini 3 Flash (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition rationale — buying Intersect is framed as a way to bypass strained grids and accelerate delivery of capacity for AI workloads; investors view this as de‑risking a material operational bottleneck rather than a speculative M&A splash. Alphabet to buy Intersect (TechCrunch)
• Neutral Sentiment: Index and ETF flows are amplifying moves — GOOG’s gains are contributing to daily performance of broad ETFs (VTI/VOO), which can both magnify rallies and create short‑term correlation noise. VTI boosted by GOOG (Quiver Quant)
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary sees recent pullback as consolidation after a huge YTD run (MarketBeat notes technical support near prior resistance) — suggests current move is part of trend continuation rather than a structural reversal. Alphabet pullback analysis (MarketBeat)
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/operational noise for Waymo: a recent San Francisco power outage stalled Waymo robotaxis and triggered a local regulator review — raises modest operational and PR risk for the autonomous‑driving unit. Waymo resumes service after outage (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation risk: a high‑profile lawsuit alleges unauthorized use of copyrighted books to train AI models (filed by a NYT reporter), which adds to ongoing legal and regulatory uncertainty for AI firms including Alphabet. NYT reporter sues Google over AI training (Reuters)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.04.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $291.16 and a 200-day moving average of $236.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 228,906 shares of company stock valued at $63,984,117. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $32,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.