Alphabet's (GOOGL) "Outperform" Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its “outperform” rating on Alphabet and kept a $425 price target, implying about 33% upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts remain broadly positive on GOOGL, with several firms reiterating or raising price targets; overall, the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $415.65.
• Alphabet recently posted a strong quarterly beat, reporting $9.11 EPS versus $2.89 expected and revenue of $119.8 billion, while the article also notes shares fell sharply in trading despite the upbeat results.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $425.00 price objective on the information services provider's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price indicates a potential upside of 32.95% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on GOOGL. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and issued a $460.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $411.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $415.65.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $22.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $319.67. 35,694,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,244,561. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $187.82 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $366.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $338.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reported a major Q2 earnings beat, with revenue and EPS topping Wall Street estimates, while Google Cloud revenue surged 82% year over year and YouTube ads also grew, showing that AI demand is translating into real business momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI demand is outpacing current capacity, which supports higher 2026 capital spending and suggests long-term revenue opportunities across Search, Cloud, YouTube, and Gemini, which now has more than 950 million monthly users. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet continues to strengthen its AI ecosystem, with Gemini nearing a billion-user milestone and a new study arguing AI is helping workers rather than replacing them, which could support confidence in the company’s platform strategy. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried that Alphabet’s AI spending spree is pressuring profits: free cash flow turned negative for the first time, CapEx guidance was increased, and shares were hit hard as Wall Street questioned whether the heavier investment will generate acceptable returns. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment was further weighed down by a new €890 million/$1 billion EU antitrust fine over Search and Play Store practices, adding regulatory risk at a time when investors are already focused on cash burn and AI spending. Article Title

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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