Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Downgraded by Phillip Securities to Moderate Buy

Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) from a strong-buy rating to a moderate buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

GOOG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $345.71.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2%

GOOG stock opened at $334.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $305.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $300.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $148.40 and a 52 week high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,068,744 shares of company stock worth $104,505,914 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Hyperscaler investment tailwind — a new market report highlights booming demand for AI ASICs and custom silicon with Google named among hyperscalers investing heavily in data-center AI compute, supporting long-term Cloud and AI revenue growth. Global Market for Computing and AI for Data Centers 2026-2040
• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise AI commercial push — Alphabet expanded a strategic tie-up with private equity firm Thoma Bravo to accelerate Gemini adoption across a large software portfolio, which could boost Google Cloud enterprise bookings and drive higher-margin SaaS integrations. Alphabet Teams Up with Thoma Bravo
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships expanding AI ecosystem — Cadence announced a collaboration to optimize AI-driven chip design tools with Gemini on Google Cloud, reinforcing Cloud platform stickiness with semiconductor design customers. Cadence and Google Collaborate to Scale AI-Driven Chip Design
• Positive Sentiment: Product expansion — Google launched a native Gemini app for macOS, broadening access to its AI features and incremental user engagement that can feed search/query volume and downstream ad or Cloud usage. Google Launches Gemini App for Mac
• Neutral Sentiment: Market research shows new developer and platform opportunities in AI-native tooling — positive for long-term TAM but not an immediate revenue cue. AI Native Market Research and Forecast Report 2026-2032
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness / price-target lifts — several firms have raised targets and issued buy ratings ahead of upcoming catalysts (Q1 earnings, Google I/O, Cloud Next), supporting investor sentiment. Wall Street sets Google stock price target for the next twelve months
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulatory risk — the European Commission’s preliminary DMA findings could force Google to give third‑party search engines access to search data (including AI chat/search data), risking search exclusivity and ad-targeting advantages in Europe. Google should allow third-party search engines access to data, EU says
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and arbitration exposure — reports highlight large mass-arbitration claims tied to prior ad-tech/search rulings and a new Aptoide antitrust suit over Android app distribution, which elevate potential litigation costs and regulatory remedies. Alphabet Faces $218 Billion Mass Arbitration Claims Google sued by rival app store Aptoide
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term sentiment drag: a small analyst downgrade and some institutional trimming of positions have appeared in filings, which can amplify volatility despite the broader bullish backdrop. Phillip Securities downgrades Alphabet

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.