Erste Group Bank Raises Earnings Estimates for Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank lifted their FY2026 EPS estimates for Alphabet in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, June 25th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the information services provider will post earnings of $14.27 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $14.25. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $14.30 per share.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on GOOGL. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $353.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $369.30 and its 200-day moving average is $333.27. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $172.77 and a twelve month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $277,696,000 after acquiring an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 274,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,000,000 after purchasing an additional 23,107 shares during the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $28,902,000. Finally, Private Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 151,972 shares of company stock worth $5,016,958. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet officially joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a milestone that boosted demand for the shares and highlighted the company’s growing importance in large-cap technology and AI. Alphabet debuts in Dow Jones Industrial Average as index tilts toward tech
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports noted Alphabet’s shares rose on the Dow debut as index funds and blue-chip buyers adjusted holdings, giving the stock a near-term technical lift. Alphabet shares rise on Dow debut, Verizon falls after index exit
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google Cloud business continues to be viewed favorably, with one report highlighting strong demand and a large backlog, suggesting AI infrastructure growth remains a long-term driver. Why Amazon, Alphabet, and Other Tech Stocks Popped Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Google is pushing for changes to UK AI copyright laws, arguing that lighter rules would support the economy and help AI development, but the outcome is uncertain. Google demands changes to AI copyright laws
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed a small insider sale by its chief accounting officer; while routine, these transactions can slightly weigh on sentiment. Alphabet insider transaction disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faced fresh headlines about AI talent loss to Anthropic and concerns that it is compute-constrained, reinforcing investor worries about competition and near-term AI capacity limits. Google hit by new AI brain drain as Anthropic poaches top Gemini talent

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.