Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $397.00 to $361.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the information services provider’s stock.
A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Daiwa Securities Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Alphabet from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.33.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Alphabet
Alphabet Stock Performance
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the sale, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,101,227 shares of company stock worth $114,969,050. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Members Trust Co increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Insight 2811 Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Trending Headlines about Alphabet
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: several outlets note continued Buy/Outperform ratings on Alphabet driven by cloud monetization and AI opportunity — Wells Fargo kept an overweight stance (while trimming targets), signaling upside remains despite lower PTs. Ahead of Meta, Alphabet earnings, Wells Fargo keeps overweight, cuts PTs
- Positive Sentiment: Market/analyst commentary highlights Alphabet’s AI upside — an Outperform rating specifically cites AI growth potential as a driver for long‑term revenue and cloud monetization. Alphabet (GOOGL) Rated Outperform on AI Growth Potential
- Positive Sentiment: Product & tech advances: coverage of Google’s Gemma 4 and reporting on the TurboQuant breakthrough reinforce Alphabet’s lead in model and efficiency advances — positive for future monetization and competitive moat. Google’s Gemma 4 brings AI superpowers to your device Google’s TurboQuant Breakthrough Just Rewrote the AI Playbook
- Neutral Sentiment: Talent movement: Broadcom named Alphabet executive Amie Thuener as its next CFO — a notable departure but not an earnings item; monitor succession and any operational impact. Broadcom taps Alphabet executive Amie Thuener as next CFO
- Negative Sentiment: Near‑term cash‑flow risk: Semianalysis’ CEO warned AI capex could push Google’s free cash flow toward zero next year, feeding investor worries about heavy, multi‑year spending before full monetization. Semianalysis CEO: Google’s free cash flow will hit zero next year from AI capex
- Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/reputational pressure: EU hospitality groups and child‑development experts are urging scrutiny of Google’s search rankings and AI video recommendations, raising potential regulatory and compliance risks in Europe and for YouTube. EU hospitality groups raise concerns over Google search rankings Experts urged Google to prohibit AI Videos targeting young YouTube users
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: An SEC filing shows a senior executive sold ~9k shares in late March — a modest but visible reduction in insider ownership that can prompt short‑term concern. John Kent Walker insider sale disclosure
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.
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