Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given New $379.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group lowered its price target on Alphabet from $400 to $379 while keeping a neutral rating, implying about 19% upside from the prior close. The move comes even as other analysts remain more bullish, with the consensus rating still at Moderate Buy and an average target of $416.02.
• Alphabet delivered strong Q2 results, reporting $9.11 in EPS versus $2.89 expected and revenue of $119.8 billion versus $117.07 billion expected. Google Cloud revenue also jumped 82% year over year, highlighting strong momentum in the company’s AI and cloud businesses.
• Despite the strong earnings, the stock fell sharply on Thursday, dropping to $318.43 amid heavy trading volume. The article also notes recent insider selling, including shares sold by John Kent Walker and a major shareholder, though institutional ownership remains significant.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by research analysts at UBS Group from $400.00 to $379.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the information services provider's stock. UBS Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 19.02% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $445.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Dbs Bank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, President Capital raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $416.02.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded down $23.66 on Thursday, hitting $318.43. 55,844,150 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,409,922. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $187.82 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $366.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $338.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business's 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the first 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 boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the first quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Cadia Private Client LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during 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, Evansbrook LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 9,522 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet posted blowout Q2 results, with revenue of $119.8 billion and EPS of $9.11, both above Wall Street expectations, while Google Cloud revenue surged 82% year over year. Reuters: Google quarterly cloud revenue growth beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI demand is outpacing capacity, and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said existing customers are spending roughly 50% more than they initially committed, pointing to strong enterprise demand and room for continued growth. CNBC: Google Cloud CEO Kurian says customers are spending 50% more as segment blows away expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Search, YouTube, and Gemini also showed momentum, with search revenue up 17% and Gemini nearing 1 billion monthly users, reinforcing Alphabet’s broader AI and consumer platform strength. Business Insider: AI is actually making Google search bigger

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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