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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $330.32 and last traded at $325.8490, with a volume of 10275195 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $321.98.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet, arguing Google’s Gemini and broader AI stack will take share from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and underpin further revenue upside. Alphabet Stock Gets an Upgrade. How Google Will Beat ChatGPT.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street analysts issued positive rating revisions and higher 12‑month targets this week, with aggregated forecasts implying up to ~21% upside — supporting momentum and analyst‑driven buying. Wall Street sets Google stock price for the next 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage from the WSJ and Barron’s highlights that Google has regained AI leadership and is executing large search and cloud AI upgrades — a fundamental driver for higher ad and cloud monetization expectations. How Google Got Its Groove Back and Edged Ahead of OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s market cap briefly surpassed Apple’s, a visible sign of investor confidence and momentum that can attract further momentum‑driven flows into GOOGL. Alphabet’s market cap surpasses Apple’s for first time since 2019
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet and Character.AI reached settlements in lawsuits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors, including a tragic teen suicide. Settlements reduce near‑term legal overhang but keep safety/regulatory scrutiny in focus. Google, Character.AI agree to settle suits involving teen suicide
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo rebrands its Zeekr robotaxi ahead of commercial fleet rollout — incremental for Waymo revenue timeline, but signals progress on autonomous‑vehicle commercialization. Waymo is rebranding its Zeekr robotaxi
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust regulators will decide by Feb. 10 whether to clear Alphabet’s $32B Wiz acquisition — a regulatory rejection or onerous remedies could dent strategic rationale and near‑term capital allocation plans. EU antitrust regulators to decide on Google’s Wiz deal by February 10

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Alphabet from $224.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on Alphabet from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.42.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $304.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total transaction of $9,213,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 192,687 shares of company stock worth $56,255,711. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Delta Asset Management LLC TN grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 6,153 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Matisse Capital lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.7% during the third quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,963 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 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.