Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from Wells Fargo & Company

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $417.00 to $371.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “market outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price (down from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up from $465.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $410.46.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $279.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $339.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $340.17. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $270.70 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.02 by ($0.90). The firm had revenue of $127.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 50.03%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 20.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 4.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the sale, the director owned 19,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 14,873 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,118,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 6,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,389,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Sageworth Trust Co grew its position in Alphabet by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 1,542 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 441.4% in the 3rd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 4,039 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 3,293 shares during the period. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.0% in the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,316 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue more than doubled year over year to approximately $30.7 billion, while its backlog reached $561 billion. The results support Alphabet’s position as a major beneficiary of enterprise AI demand. Alphabet’s Cloud Business Just Doubled
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain constructive after the selloff. Guggenheim and Needham reaffirmed “buy” ratings with $450 targets, while Citigroup and Wells Fargo retained bullish ratings and projected substantial upside despite lowering their targets.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI ecosystem could gain from rising demand for cloud capacity and specialized chips. Waymo is also expanding internationally through a partnership with Toyota, although the business remains small relative to Alphabet’s core operations. Waymo taps Toyota to supply robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple securities law firms publicized class-action lawsuits and lead-plaintiff deadlines tied to alleged disclosures about Alphabet’s Gemini AI development. These notices add headline risk, but their direct financial impact remains uncertain.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet reported adjusted earnings of $2.12 per share, below consensus near $2.94-$3.02, while revenue of $127.6 billion also missed expectations. Search and other revenue grew about 12% to roughly $63 billion, but fell short of forecasts, reinforcing fears that AI-generated answers and “AI mode” searches may monetize less effectively than traditional Search.
• Negative Sentiment: AI infrastructure spending caused free cash flow to remain negative by roughly $9.1 billion for a second consecutive quarter. Investors are questioning whether the enormous capital outlays will produce adequate returns and whether Alphabet may need additional debt or equity financing.
• Negative Sentiment: An unrealized loss on Alphabet’s SpaceX investment reduced quarterly earnings by approximately $0.55 per share, while an EU antitrust fine further pressured results. Analysts including RBC, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Wedbush, KeyCorp and Cantor Fitzgerald lowered price targets, even though most maintained positive ratings.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known for its Google subsidiary. Google operates a global internet-services business centered on online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a broad range of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools.

Google Cloud provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software services to businesses, governments, and other organizations. Alphabet also develops consumer hardware, including Pixel devices and products for connected homes, while investing in emerging businesses through its “Other Bets” segment, including autonomous transportation and life sciences initiatives.

Alphabet was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring that made Google a subsidiary and provided a separate structure for its expanding portfolio of businesses.