Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2.3% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were up 2.3% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $330.10 and last traded at $326.57. 21,334,514 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 21,566,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $319.09.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reported a strong second quarter, with revenue up 24% year over year to $119.8 billion and earnings per share of $9.11, substantially exceeding analyst expectations. Alphabet Stock Is Gaining Monday: What’s Going On?
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue reportedly surged 82%, supported by enterprise adoption of AI services, improving profitability and a large backlog. Analysts and bullish commentators view Cloud momentum as evidence that Alphabet’s AI infrastructure investments are beginning to generate returns. Alphabet Q2 Strength Reinforces the Bullish Case
• Positive Sentiment: Search and YouTube engagement remained resilient as Alphabet integrates AI across its products. Several analysts maintained bullish ratings, with reported price targets around $410 to $450, encouraging dip-buying despite some target reductions. GOOG Stock Rebounds as Wall Street Continues to Back AI Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube reached a multiyear agreement to include Peacock content for U.S. YouTube Premium subscribers beginning in 2027. The deal expands the subscription offering with sports, films and television programming, potentially supporting user retention and subscription growth. NBCUniversal and YouTube Ink Peacock Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet raised its 2026 capital-expenditure outlook to approximately $195 billion-$205 billion to fund AI data centers and computing capacity. Management’s spending signals confidence in demand, but investors are weighing the long-term payoff against near-term cash-flow pressure. Alphabet’s AI Spending Crushes Its Free Cash Flow
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending produced negative free cash flow for the quarter and pushed Alphabet below its 200-day moving average. Skeptics also point to valuation sensitivity, competitive risks and investor Steve Eisman’s decision to exit Alphabet to reduce exposure to the AI trade. Alphabet’s AI Spending and Free Cash Flow

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities set a $393.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $410.09.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $360.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $337.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 17.25 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 29,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341 shares in the last quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 275,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,060,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares in the last quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $106,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares during the period. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,006 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,868 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.