Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Cut to Market Perform at Citizens Jmp

Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) from a mkt outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GOOG. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $450.00 to $425.00 in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.54.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

Alphabet stock opened at $278.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $271.41 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $335.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $338.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.01 by ($0.89). Alphabet had a net margin of 50.03% and a return on equity of 43.33%. The company had revenue of $127.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $127.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 19.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $45,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 76.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 14,581,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,182,952,000 after purchasing an additional 6,300,900 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,923,442 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,458,980,000 after purchasing an additional 5,208,690 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $130,704,718,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 21,922,379 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,288,654,000 after purchasing an additional 4,083,758 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud delivered exceptional growth. Revenue more than doubled year over year to approximately $30.7 billion, while operating margins expanded and the backlog reached roughly $561 billion. This supports the view that Alphabet’s AI investments are generating demand. Alphabet Cloud Business Article
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI platform may create new revenue streams. OpenAI reportedly plans to use Google’s tensor-processing units, while Gemini performance and expanding AI Search advertising could help Alphabet compete in the AI infrastructure market. Analysts including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan remain constructive, despite lowering price targets. OpenAI Google AI Chips Article
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation has become more attractive. Reports place GOOG’s price-to-earnings ratio near 14.6, the lowest level in many years, prompting some investors to characterize the selloff as a potential long-term buying opportunity. Google Valuation Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo is expanding internationally. Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit will test Toyota bZ4X robotaxis in Japan and the U.K., but the business remains small and cash-burning. Waymo Toyota Partnership Article
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly results missed expectations. Alphabet reported approximately $2.12 in earnings per share and $127.6 billion in revenue, below consensus forecasts. Search revenue grew but missed estimates, and AI-powered searches are reportedly harder to monetize than traditional searches. Alphabet Search Earnings Article
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is straining cash flow. Capital expenditures and infrastructure commitments pushed free cash flow approximately $9 billion negative for the quarter, raising concerns about returns on Alphabet’s enormous AI investment program and potential financing or dilution. Tech Giants AI Spending Article
• Negative Sentiment: Additional earnings pressure came from investments and legal risk. An unrealized loss on Alphabet’s SpaceX stake reduced earnings, while multiple law firms publicized securities class-action deadlines tied to alleged AI disclosures. These lawsuits are largely investor notices, but they add reputational and headline risk. Alphabet Class Action Notice

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent organization of Google. Founded in 2015 through a corporate restructuring, Alphabet oversees Google and a collection of businesses focused on technology, online services, communications, artificial intelligence, and other emerging areas.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, digital advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Workspace. The company also provides cloud computing, data storage, cybersecurity, productivity, and artificial intelligence services through Google Cloud.