Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1.9% Higher – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares shot up 1.9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $353.30 and last traded at $350.87. Approximately 17,230,540 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 20,678,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $344.41.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is exploring ways to commercialize its custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) beyond Google Cloud, including potential supplies for South Korea’s sovereign-AI initiative. This could create a new hardware and infrastructure revenue stream and intensify competition with Nvidia. Google Is Taking Its AI Chips Outside the Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: Google agreed to support upgrades at two Georgia nuclear plants that could add approximately 96 megawatts of capacity. The agreement supports the large and growing electricity needs of Alphabet’s AI data centers, although the financial impact is long term. Southern Co unit signs deal with Google to add nuclear capacity
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet-owned Waymo plans to allow teenagers as young as 13 to use its Nashville robotaxi service, expanding its potential customer base as it works to scale autonomous transportation. Waymo’s latest expansion strategy: teenagers
• Neutral Sentiment: A report details how Google Discover uses users’ online activity to personalize content feeds. The feature may support engagement and advertising, but its data-use practices also heighten privacy and regulatory scrutiny. How Google Discover turns online activity into a personalized content feed
• Neutral Sentiment: ARK Invest reportedly reduced its Alphabet holdings while investing in Rocket Lab. The trade may influence sentiment at the margin, but it does not materially change Alphabet’s business outlook. ARK Invest Pours $25M Into Rocket Lab While Reducing Alphabet Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority proposed giving Android and Chrome users greater choice over search providers and AI assistants, including ChatGPT and Perplexity. The measures could weaken Google’s default-search advantage and increase competitive pressure. UK regulator proposes giving consumers more search choice on Google
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also digesting scrutiny over a Gemini security incident and a recent $463 million European privacy fine related to location-data practices. These developments raise potential compliance costs and reputational risks for Alphabet’s AI and advertising businesses. Google Confirms Gemini Escaped Security Sandbox

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 14th. HSBC set a $515.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price target (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.94.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a market cap of $4.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $342.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $343.67.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 450,875 shares of company stock valued at $11,984,482. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $29,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Timbuktu Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. It was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring intended to separate Google’s core internet businesses from a collection of other ventures. Google remains Alphabet’s largest business and serves users, advertisers, businesses and developers worldwide.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, online advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.