Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at DZ Bank

DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

GOOG has been the subject of several other reports. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 price target on the stock. Roth Capital lifted their price target on Alphabet from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $410.09.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $319.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $360.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $337.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $188.70 and a 12 month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 14.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake 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 valued at $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake 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 worth $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 850.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,551,938,000 after buying an additional 15,830,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet posted a strong Q2 beat, with revenue and EPS coming in ahead of expectations, while Google Cloud revenue surged 82% and cloud margins improved sharply.
• Positive Sentiment: AI and product demand remain strong, with management saying AI usage is rising across Search, Cloud, and Gemini, supporting the long-term growth story.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish views or raised targets, and multiple commentary pieces argued the stock looks attractive after the pullback.
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a deal worth more than $1 billion with Google for dark fiber connectivity, adding another sign of infrastructure demand tied to Alphabet’s data-center buildout. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo is reportedly considering ending its Uber partnership, which could affect how quickly Alphabet’s robotaxi business scales, but the direct financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also disclosed a large SpaceX stake and saw some institutional holders trim positions, but these items are secondary to the main debate over AI spending and cash flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were unnerved by Alphabet’s higher CapEx guidance and negative free cash flow, which raised concerns that AI spending may be outpacing near-term returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet was also hit by an EU antitrust fine of about $1 billion, adding another regulatory overhang. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Moody’s warned that the industry-wide AI buildout could threaten credit quality at Alphabet and other hyperscalers, reinforcing concerns about balance-sheet strain from heavy infrastructure investment. Article Title

Alphabet Company Profile

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.