Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded up 5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $351.97 and last traded at $351.28. 25,476,221 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 16% from the average session volume of 21,927,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $334.69.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet officially joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Verizon, which is lifting sentiment and likely drawing passive index buying. Reuters: Alphabet debuts in Dow Jones Industrial Average as index tilts toward tech
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple pieces point to strong AI and cloud demand, including reports that Google Cloud backlog has surged and that Alphabet is compute-constrained, suggesting customer demand may be outpacing supply. 247WallSt: New AI Cold War?! Did Google Really ‘Throttle’ Zuckerberg’s AI Access?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary is broadly constructive, with analysts and market commentators reiterating buy/overweight views and framing recent weakness as a pullback rather than a deterioration in fundamentals. TipRanks: Dow Inclusion Gives Alphabet Stock (GOOGL) a Much-Needed Lift
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles note rising investor interest in Alphabet as a core AI and cloud beneficiary, with some bullish long-term price targets and comparisons to other megacap winners. Seeking Alpha: Alphabet: The Path To $576/Share
• Neutral Sentiment: There is also some caution in the news flow around Alphabet’s heavy AI capital spending and talent losses, which may keep volatility elevated even as the Dow inclusion boosts the stock. CNBC: Alphabet stock pops 4% on Dow debut, but the tech giant faces major AI questions
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google has limited Meta’s access to Gemini AI models underscore ongoing compute constraints and highlight the expensive infrastructure race in AI. Reuters: Google limits Meta’s use of its Gemini AI models, FT reports

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.78.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $366.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $332.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 151,523 shares of company stock worth $4,863,526 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after buying an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after acquiring an additional 111,699,704 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 850.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,551,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.