Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Climb 2% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price was up 2% on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $292.97 and last traded at $290.63. Approximately 17,792,749 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 20,866,754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $284.92.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are a few of the latest headlines about GOOG:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly testing a faster Gemini 4 Flash model internally, following the launch of Gemini 4 Carbon for developers and businesses. Further model improvements could strengthen Alphabet’s AI offering, though commercial impact remains to be seen. Google is letting staff test a fast new Gemini AI model
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is exploring its first Hong Kong- and Singapore-dollar bond sales, potentially raising up to $3 billion combined. The deals would diversify funding sources but add to borrowing as the company invests heavily in AI infrastructure. Alphabet explores first Hong Kong and Singapore dollar bond sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s $10 million purchase of Spirit Airlines’ data for AI training cleared a key hurdle after the company agreed to additional privacy protections. The data could aid model development, while privacy safeguards address a source of delay and concern. Google agrees to additional privacy protections in Spirit Airlines data sale

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “reduce” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Citigroup lowered shares of Alphabet from a “market outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 29th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Alphabet from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.38.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.0%

The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $327.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $336.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.01 by ($0.89). Alphabet had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 50.03%. The business had revenue of $127.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Investors of record on Monday, December 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 7th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.59%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 247 shares of company stock worth $79,238 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 135.5% in the third quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 73 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Timbuktu Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet is a technology holding company whose primary business is Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google became part of Alphabet when the company adopted a holding-company structure in 2015. Sundar Pichai leads Alphabet and Google as chief executive officer. Google offers internet search, online advertising, cloud computing, and software and hardware products. Its services and products include Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Cloud.