Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given New $400.00 Price Target at China Renaissance

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target boosted by China Renaissance from $330.00 to $400.00 in a research report report published on Friday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Arete Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.46.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $322.86 on Friday. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $349.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,067,686 shares of company stock valued at $105,352,291. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q4 estimates with $113.8B revenue, $2.82 EPS, huge Google Cloud growth (48% y/y) and milestone annual revenue above $400B — evidence that AI and ads are driving durable top‑line momentum. Alphabet Crushes Earnings Again, Reports 48% Cloud Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini/product adoption and a surging cloud backlog (reported at ~$240B) support longer‑term revenue leverage from AI investments — a structural growth argument investors and many analysts are citing. Google goes from laggard to leader as it pulls ahead of OpenAI with stellar AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokers raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views after the quarter (e.g., Citigroup, JPMorgan, RBC, Needham, Mizuho), providing analyst support under the share price. Multiple analyst price target raises (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data shows no meaningful short position change (reads as negligible/quiet on short‑selling activity), so moves are likely driven by flows and sentiment rather than a short squeeze.
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF/sector flows and inclusion chatter (new Big Tech ETFs) can amplify moves in GOOGL but are not company‑specific catalysts. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet guided to $175–$185B of capex for 2026 (aimed at AI compute and cloud), a shockingly large jump that has investors fretting about near‑term free cash flow and returns on incremental AI spend — the dominant proximate cause of recent weakness. Alphabet resets the bar for AI infrastructure spending (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market narrative: fears about excessive AI capex are prompting a tech sell‑off (FactSet noted >$1T wiped from big‑tech), which weighs on Alphabet alongside company‑specific capex concerns. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported after the quarter, adding near‑term pressure on sentiment. Alphabet Shares Down After Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Employee protests over Google Cloud contracts with immigration agencies pose reputational/legal risk that can create headline volatility. Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies

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.