Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price rose 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $345.97 and last traded at $343.68. 13,960,796 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 20,615,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $339.36.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Antitrust ruling avoids a breakup: A federal judge ordered Google to share certain ad-tech data, improve interoperability and appoint an internal compliance officer, but rejected the government’s request to dismantle the business. The decision limits the risk of a more disruptive structural remedy, supporting Alphabet’s advertising cash flows. Google should appoint antitrust compliance officer
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure financing strengthens growth expectations: A 10-bank consortium reportedly arranged $22 billion in financing for Crux AI, a Blackstone-Alphabet cloud venture intended to expand Google’s TPU capacity. The funding could accelerate Google Cloud and AI growth while sharing infrastructure costs with financial partners. Banks provide $22 billion chip loan
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst remains bullish: Evercore reiterated a Buy rating and raised its Alphabet price target to $450, citing the company’s AI opportunity and operating momentum. Alphabet also restarted Waymo robotaxi service in San Antonio and expanded AI partnerships in health care, commerce and data-center energy management. Evercore raises Alphabet price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term AI prospects versus near-term execution: Google Cloud growth, a substantial backlog and new Gemini products support the investment case, but investors are weighing whether AI spending will generate sufficient returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Capex and cash-flow pressure remain: Recent commentary highlights Alphabet’s roughly 7% three-month decline as a consequence of heavy AI investment and pressure on free cash flow. The ad-tech remedies could also increase compliance costs and give rivals greater access to Google’s data and systems. Alphabet down 7 percent in three months

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. HSBC set a $515.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $379.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.3%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $343.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $342.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.52 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 450,875 shares of company stock worth $11,984,482. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 100,052 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,351,000 after acquiring an additional 10,617 shares during the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 159,384 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Bullseye Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $512,000. Finally, Talon Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 20.6% during the second quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. It was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring intended to separate Google’s core internet businesses from a collection of other ventures. Google remains Alphabet’s largest business and serves users, advertisers, businesses and developers worldwide.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, online advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.