Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were up 1.3% during trading on Wednesday after Phillip Securities raised their price target on the stock from $340.00 to $395.00. The stock traded as high as $337.48 and last traded at $337.12. Approximately 24,281,786 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 33,074,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.91.

GOOGL has been the topic of several other research reports. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Arete Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $385.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,068,744 shares of company stock worth $104,505,914. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Phillip Securities raised its price target to $395 (maintained “Accumulate”), giving investors a notable upside case that supports the stock’s rally. Phillip Securities Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to $395
• Positive Sentiment: Citi lifted its 12-month target (reported ~$405) and put Alphabet on a near-term catalyst watch, citing product/events that could lift shares—adding to momentum into the Q1 report. Wall Street sets Google stock price target for the next 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights Alphabet’s strong earnings-surprise history and argues the company has the ingredients to beat estimates again next quarter—this supports investor expectations for continued EPS upside. Will Alphabet (GOOGL) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: GitLab announced an expanded partnership with Google Cloud, which underlines ongoing enterprise traction for Google Cloud and offers a concrete revenue/usage narrative to investors. GitLab Stock Jumps on Google Cloud Boost
• Positive Sentiment: Market reports note an analyst upgrade that coincided with share strength, reinforcing the bullish analyst sentiment this morning. Alphabet Trading Up After Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market commentary (Zacks) says the overall bull case is strengthening and many investors remain underexposed—this market context is helping mega-cap tech names like Alphabet. The Bull Case is Strengthening and Most Investors are Underexposed
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets continue to profile Alphabet as a long-term/momentum pick (style-score based), which supports buy-and-hold flows but may already be priced in. Why Alphabet (GOOGL) is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: Aptoide sued Google alleging Android app-store and billing monopolization—renewed antitrust scrutiny raises headline risk and could pressure multiples if escalated. Google sued by rival app store Aptoide over alleged monopoly
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel trimmed expectations for Alphabet, signalling some analysts are becoming more cautious—this can cap near-term multiple expansion. Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure: reports flag Meta’s improved AI ad offering as a potential threat to Google’s ad dominance, a structural risk for ad revenue growth. Zuckerberg Is Dangerously Close To Cracking Google’s Money Machine

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $306.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

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.