Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Alphabet hit a new 52-week high after Arete Research raised its price target to $425 from $405 and kept a buy rating. The stock briefly traded as high as $408.61 on strong volume.
• Several other analysts have also turned more bullish, with multiple price target increases and an overall MarketBeat consensus of “Moderate Buy”. The average price target now sits at $411.23.
• Recent news continues to support the AI growth story, including reports of a potential Google-Blackstone AI cloud venture and expectations for major AI announcements at Google I/O. Alphabet also beat quarterly earnings and recently raised its dividend.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Arete Research raised their price target on the stock from $405.00 to $425.00. Arete Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $408.61 and last traded at $396.94, with a volume of 26758409 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $396.78.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on GOOGL. Dbs Bank raised their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Phillip Securities raised their target price on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Alphabet from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, China Renaissance raised their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $411.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. This trade represents a 22.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $9,859,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $508,028,012.80. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 257,931 shares of company stock worth $36,886,538 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google and Blackstone reportedly plan to launch a new AI cloud company, a move that could expand demand for Alphabet’s specialized chips and deepen its presence in enterprise AI infrastructure. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is heading into Google I/O with expectations for major AI announcements, and analysts are watching for updates on Gemini, agentic commerce, and in-house TPU chips that could strengthen its competitive position. Google I/O primer: Alphabet's AI showcase is its chance to wow Wall Street
• Positive Sentiment: Arete Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $425 from $405 and kept a buy rating, signaling continued upside confidence from analysts. Arete Research adjusts price target on Alphabet to $425 from $405
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Alphabet’s strong momentum this year, with AI demand, cloud growth, and Berkshire Hathaway’s much larger stake helping validate the bullish case. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed insider-share sales by a major shareholder, but the transactions appear routine and were reported through standard SEC filings. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faces ongoing headline risk from its YouTube youth-safety settlement and broader scrutiny around AI and platform responsibility, though these issues look secondary to the company’s current AI-driven optimism. Alphabet’s $5 Trillion Milestone: How AI Ambitions Are Fueling Google’s Record Run

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $416,217,000. Sovran Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 23.6% in the third quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in Alphabet by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 274,761 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $86,000,000 after acquiring an additional 23,107 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 21.2% in the third quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,171,000 after acquiring an additional 8,746 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $405,131,000 after acquiring an additional 60,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.0%

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 capitalization of $4.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $331.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $318.52.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Alphabet Company Profile

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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