Citizens Jmp Reaffirms “Market Outperform” Rating for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Citizens Jmp in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $385.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock. Citizens Jmp’s price target indicates a potential upside of 18.80% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $8.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $324.07. The company had a trading volume of 50,476,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,694,512. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.82. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $349.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total value of $10,383,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $725,942,020.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,035,186 shares of company stock valued at $94,458,941 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q4 estimates and showed robust Cloud growth (48% YoY) and record annual revenue, reinforcing durable demand for Search, YouTube and enterprise AI. MarketBeat earnings summary
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud backlog and enterprise wins (big backlog increase, deals like Anthropic/Meta customers) support higher long‑term monetization from AI infrastructure. Earnings call details
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube and subscription momentum (325M paying users; >$60B YouTube revenue annually) provide diversified, high‑margin revenue streams. TechCrunch on subscriptions
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo’s large private fundraising reduces Alphabet’s near‑term cash burden for autonomous driving and validates the unit’s standalone value. CNBC Waymo fundraising
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets and reiterated buys — a bullish long‑term signal but one that can increase intraday volatility as expectations rise. Analyst price‑target coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Minor insider stock sales were reported; the transactions are small relative to total float and provide limited signal beyond short‑term sentiment. SEC filing on insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet guided to massive 2026 capex of $175–$185 billion to scale AI/data centers — well above Street expectations — which spooked investors and pressured the stock despite the beat. Reuters on capex forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Markets reacted with broader tech weakness (Nasdaq pressure) as traders re‑rate growth vs. near‑term cash requirements; some chip and supplier implications are positive, but investor risk appetite tightened. Proactive Investors on market reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks persist (Waymo safety hearings; a $135M Android data‑transfer settlement) that could add execution/PR headwinds. Reuters on Waymo hearing MSN on Android settlement

About Alphabet

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.