Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 1% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded up 1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $343.29 and last traded at $341.75. 14,412,076 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 21,123,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $338.20.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure expansion: Alphabet’s expanded custom-silicon relationship with Marvell covers components connected to Google’s TPU ecosystem, including inference accelerators, networking, storage, and memory products. The agreement gives Alphabet more supply-chain flexibility and supports continued AI capacity growth, although it may increase dependence on multiple chip partners. Jensen Huang Thinks This Chip Stock Could Hit $1 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo growth: Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit received approval to operate thousands of robotaxis in Nevada and has expanded its lower-cost next-generation vehicles to riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Waymo also introduced a custom AI chip designed to reduce reliance on Nvidia and AMD, potentially improving long-term economics. Robotaxi Permits in Nevada
• Positive Sentiment: Investor and analyst support: Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its Alphabet position, reinforcing the view that the company fits a value-oriented investment strategy. Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a “Buy” rating, while analysts continue to point to resilient Search, fast-growing Cloud, and strong earnings momentum. Berkshire’s Alphabet Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: DeepMind leadership transition: Nobel Prize-winning co-founder Demis Hassabis is moving from day-to-day management to chairman and chief scientist roles, while Koray Kavukcuoglu will oversee operations. The change could improve Alphabet-wide AI coordination, but investors may monitor execution and retention risks. DeepMind Leadership Change
• Negative Sentiment: Firebase enforcement risk: Indian authorities directed Google to remove hundreds of Firebase accounts allegedly used in bank impersonation scams. The action could increase compliance costs and renew concerns about misuse of Alphabet’s platforms. India Orders Removal of Firebase Accounts

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. HSBC set a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $415.55.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $350.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $339.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total transaction of $27,337.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,305,738.46. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $330,886,000 after purchasing an additional 806,681 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the second quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after buying an additional 3,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.