Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $349.00 and last traded at $339.71, with a volume of 36372485 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $343.69.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Waymo raised $16 billion in a financing round, valuing the unit at about $126B — this reduces Alphabet’s near-term funding burden for autonomous driving and validates Waymo’s standalone value. Waymo announces $16 billion fundraising round
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud struck a five‑year AI and cloud deal with Liberty Global to deploy Gemini models across European units — a material enterprise win for Cloud/AI monetization. Google Cloud, Liberty Global strike five-year AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Humana launched an AI-powered agent assist built on Google Cloud, showing continued vertical adoption of Google’s AI stack in healthcare. Humana Unveils AI-Powered Agent Assist Built With Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: WSJ reports Google is investing heavily in renewable energy and grid capacity to secure data-center power for AI — strengthens long-term cloud/AI reliability and cost profile. Google Is Spending Big to Build a Lead in the AI Energy Race
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and previews (Zacks, previews) show expectations for strong Search and Cloud Q4 momentum — this supports upside but also raises the bar for the earnings print. Can Strong Search and Cloud Growth Aid Alphabet’s Q4 Earnings?
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $400 (buy) while Bernstein raised theirs to $335 (market perform) — mixed analyst signals can amplify intraday swings around earnings. Jefferies raises target; Bernstein adjusts target Bernstein adjusts price target on Alphabet
• Neutral Sentiment: Company insider activity: CAO Amie Thuener O’Toole sold 933 shares (small reduction) and a separate report flags a large shareholder sale — insider sales can create short-term pressure but specifics matter. Insider sale by Amie Thuener O’Toole Major shareholder sells $35M in stock
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo faces a Senate hearing to defend its safety record after federal probes — regulatory scrutiny raises execution and PR risk for Alphabet’s autonomous unit. Waymo to defend self-driving safety record, warn on China competition
• Negative Sentiment: Google agreed to pay $135M to resolve an Android data-transfer lawsuit — a modest but tangible legal expense that can weigh on sentiment. Google to Pay $135 Million to Resolve the Android Data Transfer Lawsuit

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $365.00 price target (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Arete Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $336.60.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $4.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $321.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.37.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total transaction of $10,637,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,211,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $723,945,705.60. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,035,186 shares of company stock valued at $94,458,941 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. MBA Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the second quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 9,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 842,909 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $151,313,000 after acquiring an additional 18,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 127,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,415,000 after acquiring an additional 5,373 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.