Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating on Alphabet and maintained a $450 price target, implying about 24.36% upside from the prior close.
• Alphabet shares were down 3.9% and opened at $361.85, while the stock still trades below Needham’s target and near the middle of its recent range.
• Alphabet’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $5.11 beating estimates and revenue of $109.9 billion topping forecasts, while analysts overall rate the stock a Moderate Buy.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $450.00 price target on the information services provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 24.36% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and set a $460.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.04.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.9%

Alphabet stock opened at $361.85 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $347.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $325.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Alphabet has a one year low of $162.00 and a one year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 6.0% during the first quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 5,460 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Cadia Private Client LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Cadia Private Client LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 2,364 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion investment signals confidence in Alphabet’s AI and cloud strategy and provides a high-profile endorsement of the company’s long-term growth plan. Berkshire invests extra $10 billion in Alphabet, deepening bet on AI
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being viewed as a major AI winner because it can tap public markets to fund compute-heavy expansion, reinforcing the scale of its competitive position. Alphabet's Mega Fundraising Shows the Value of Being a Public Company
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Alphabet’s broader AI push, including coding tools and hardware initiatives, underscores that management is investing aggressively to keep growth strong. Microsoft and Google are late to AI coding, but 'absolutely critical' they compete for growth
• Negative Sentiment: The $80 billion stock sale is pressuring shares because investors worry about dilution and the rising cost of Alphabet’s AI buildout. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. regulators are giving publishers more control over Google’s AI search tools, a move that could limit data access and add friction to Google’s search monetization strategy. UK regulator enforces new competition requirements for Google search

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.

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