Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $330.32 and last traded at $325.44. Approximately 31,487,588 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 31,891,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $321.98.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet has reclaimed the No.2 market‑cap spot ahead of Apple, a symbolic win that can boost investor sentiment and ETF flows into GOOGL. Higher index weight and headline momentum are supporting the rally. Alphabet’s market cap surpasses Apple’s for first time since 2019
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and outlets are upgrading Alphabet on expectations that its Gemini/AI stack will take share from rivals (and lift search and cloud monetization), keeping bullish price targets and favourable sentiment around shares. Alphabet Stock Gets an Upgrade. How Google Will Beat ChatGPT.
• Positive Sentiment: EU policymakers appear to be softening proposed digital rules for big tech, reducing the risk of heavy-handed new restrictions that could have pressured ad/search businesses. That regulatory relief is a supportive backdrop for the stock. Exclusive: Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s proposed $32B acquisition of cybersecurity firm Wiz is under EU review with a decision due by Feb. 10 — a binary catalyst that could create short‑term volatility depending on approval, remedies or delay. EU antitrust regulators to decide on Google’s Wiz deal by February 10
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet and startup Character.AI agreed to settle lawsuits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors (including a teen suicide case). Although settlements remove some legal overhang, they highlight reputational, regulatory and compliance risks for AI products that investors should monitor. Google, Character.AI to settle suits involving suicides and AI chatbots
• Negative Sentiment: Despite strong gains (GOOGL has been a top performer among the Magnificent 7), some analysts warn about valuation stretch — a factor that could cap upside if macro or execution risks reappear. GOOGL Best Performing Magnificent 7 Stock in a Year: Buy or Hold Now?

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Melius Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $343.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.42.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $304.36 and its 200 day moving average is $247.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. On average, research analysts predict 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, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $184,914.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,872.04. The trade was a 13.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. This trade represents a 23.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 192,687 shares of company stock worth $56,255,711 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,033,300,000 after acquiring an additional 6,733,278 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 141,615,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,857,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224,497 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,944,208,000. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.