Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Phillip Securities raised its price target on Alphabet to $395 (from $340), sending shares up about 1.3% intraday as the stock traded near $337.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly bullish with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $367.62, and several firms (including Citi, BMO and Robert W. Baird) lifting targets into the ~$370–$405 range.
• Insiders have sold heavily—about 2,068,744 shares worth $104.5M in the past 90 days (insiders own 11.55%)—even as large institutions like Norges Bank and Berkshire Hathaway established or enlarged multibillion-dollar stakes, leaving institutional ownership at 40.03%.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shares traded up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Phillip Securities raised their price target on the stock from $340.00 to $395.00. The stock traded as high as $337.48 and last traded at $337.12. 24,281,786 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 33,074,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.91.

GOOGL has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $405.00 price objective (up from $390.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $367.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,068,744 shares of company stock worth $104,505,914 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Phillip Securities raised its price target to $395 (maintained "Accumulate"), giving investors a notable upside case that supports the stock's rally. Phillip Securities Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to $395
• Positive Sentiment: Citi lifted its 12-month target (reported ~$405) and put Alphabet on a near-term catalyst watch, citing product/events that could lift shares—adding to momentum into the Q1 report. Wall Street sets Google stock price target for the next 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights Alphabet's strong earnings-surprise history and argues the company has the ingredients to beat estimates again next quarter—this supports investor expectations for continued EPS upside. Will Alphabet (GOOGL) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: GitLab announced an expanded partnership with Google Cloud, which underlines ongoing enterprise traction for Google Cloud and offers a concrete revenue/usage narrative to investors. GitLab Stock Jumps on Google Cloud Boost
• Positive Sentiment: Market reports note an analyst upgrade that coincided with share strength, reinforcing the bullish analyst sentiment this morning. Alphabet Trading Up After Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market commentary (Zacks) says the overall bull case is strengthening and many investors remain underexposed—this market context is helping mega-cap tech names like Alphabet. The Bull Case is Strengthening and Most Investors are Underexposed
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets continue to profile Alphabet as a long-term/momentum pick (style-score based), which supports buy-and-hold flows but may already be priced in. Why Alphabet (GOOGL) is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: Aptoide sued Google alleging Android app-store and billing monopolization—renewed antitrust scrutiny raises headline risk and could pressure multiples if escalated. Google sued by rival app store Aptoide over alleged monopoly
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel trimmed expectations for Alphabet, signalling some analysts are becoming more cautious—this can cap near-term multiple expansion. Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure: reports flag Meta’s improved AI ad offering as a potential threat to Google’s ad dominance, a structural risk for ad revenue growth. Zuckerberg Is Dangerously Close To Cracking Google's Money Machine

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Alphabet by 855.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,546,413,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.12. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $306.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.18.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

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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