Erste Group Bank Boosts Earnings Estimates for Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) – Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank lifted their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Alphabet in a report released on Friday, June 5th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the information services provider will post earnings per share of $14.25 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $14.22. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $14.29 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Alphabet’s FY2027 earnings at $14.50 EPS.

GOOG has been the subject of several other research reports. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.78.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $353.32 on Thursday. Alphabet has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $404.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $355.05 and a 200-day moving average of $328.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.81 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding Gemini with new tools aimed at small businesses, which could help broaden adoption and monetize AI services. Google Debuts Gemini Features Geared to Small Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s support for Anthropic’s $35 billion AI infrastructure financing deal reinforces its central role in AI buildout and could boost cloud demand. Google Backs $35 Billion Anthropic AI Infrastructure Financing Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Gemini monthly users have doubled highlight strong product momentum and strengthen the long-term AI growth story. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Reports Doubling of Gemini App Monthly Users to 900 Million
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s reported $920 million-per-month AI compute deal with SpaceX may support future growth, but it also signals rising infrastructure spending and AI competition costs. Google’s $920 Million-a-Month Deal Could Supercharge the SpaceX IPO
• Negative Sentiment: A fire at a third-party data center caused intermittent Google Cloud disruptions in India, which could raise reliability concerns for some customers. Fire at third-party facility disrupts Google Cloud network traffic in India
• Negative Sentiment: A California judge denied Google’s request for a new trial in the youth social media addiction case, leaving legal liability concerns in place. Meta and Google denied new trial after landmark verdict in youth social media addiction case

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.