Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the fifty-four research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-five have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $420.1943.

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $411.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, New Street Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge rejected the U.S. government’s request to force Google to sell its AdX advertising exchange and other ad-tech assets. Although Alphabet must change certain business practices, avoiding a breakup preserves the company’s advertising infrastructure and revenue potential. Google defeats US bid to force ad tech sale
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway increased its Alphabet stake, with CEO Greg Abel describing Google as a significant AI player. The investment is a high-profile endorsement of Alphabet’s long-term competitive position in AI. Berkshire CEO Abel says Alphabet a significant player in AI
• Positive Sentiment: Google introduced conversational AI voice features for Gmail, Docs and Keep, expanding Gemini’s integration into widely used Workspace products. A new weather-forecasting model and planned AI image tools also highlight continued product development and potential monetization opportunities. Google launches AI voice features in Gmail, Docs and Keep
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its buy rating and set a $410 price target. Alphabet will also pay a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share to eligible shareholders, adding to its shareholder-return appeal. Google to pay dividends this month
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet agreed to purchase approximately 396 megawatts of geothermal power from Fervo Energy for a Utah data center, with an expansion option. The deal supports reliable power for AI infrastructure but also underscores the scale and cost of Alphabet’s data-center buildout.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh antitrust-related behavioral remedies, a securities-fraud investigation, insider selling reports and concerns that the promised Gemini 3.5 Pro flagship model remains delayed. These issues could limit sentiment despite the favorable breakup ruling. Securities fraud investigation into Alphabet

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $277,696,000 after acquiring an additional 93,293 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $25,679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,902,000. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 118,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,236,000 after purchasing an additional 17,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 66.1% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 22,877 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 9,105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $342.48 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $349.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $342.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $226.11 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.