Alphabet’s (GOOG) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada reissued their buy rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $475.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on GOOG. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $379.00 price target (down from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $410.09.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $319.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $360.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $337.38. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $188.70 and a 1 year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The business’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet will post 17.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet posted a strong Q2 beat, with revenue and EPS coming in ahead of expectations, while Google Cloud revenue surged 82% and cloud margins improved sharply.
• Positive Sentiment: AI and product demand remain strong, with management saying AI usage is rising across Search, Cloud, and Gemini, supporting the long-term growth story.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish views or raised targets, and multiple commentary pieces argued the stock looks attractive after the pullback.
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a deal worth more than $1 billion with Google for dark fiber connectivity, adding another sign of infrastructure demand tied to Alphabet’s data-center buildout. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo is reportedly considering ending its Uber partnership, which could affect how quickly Alphabet’s robotaxi business scales, but the direct financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also disclosed a large SpaceX stake and saw some institutional holders trim positions, but these items are secondary to the main debate over AI spending and cash flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were unnerved by Alphabet’s higher CapEx guidance and negative free cash flow, which raised concerns that AI spending may be outpacing near-term returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet was also hit by an EU antitrust fine of about $1 billion, adding another regulatory overhang. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Moody’s warned that the industry-wide AI buildout could threaten credit quality at Alphabet and other hyperscalers, reinforcing concerns about balance-sheet strain from heavy infrastructure investment. Article Title

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.