Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Rating Lowered by Citizens Jmp

Key Points

• Citizens JMP downgraded Alphabet from “market outperform” to “market perform,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Buy” with an average price target of $416.12.
• Alphabet shares fell $37.98 to $286.91, and the company’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, with earnings per share of $2.12 versus the $3.02 consensus estimate and revenue of $127.58 billion versus $127.96 billion expected.
• Despite the downgrade and earnings miss, analysts highlighted growth opportunities in Google Cloud and AI chips, including potential demand for Google’s tensor processing units.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Citizens Jmp from a "market outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on GOOGL. Wedbush cut their price target on Alphabet from $445.00 to $387.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Pivotal Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 target price (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group set a $332.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $416.12.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $37.98 on Thursday, reaching $286.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 62,584,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,583,846. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $341.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $340.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $270.70 and a 1 year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by ($0.90). Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $127.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.96 billion. Analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 20.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 238,977,259 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $85,403,303,000 after buying an additional 12,718,127 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 28,950.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,291,926 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,671,986,000 after acquiring an additional 9,259,940 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Alphabet by 90.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,040,373 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,900,078,000 after acquiring an additional 8,112,680 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,612,704,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Alphabet by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 31,745,979 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,128,850,000 after acquiring an additional 3,574,810 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud delivered strong growth. Cloud revenue more than doubled to roughly $31 billion, with operating profit reportedly nearly tripling, reinforcing the potential payoff from Alphabet’s AI infrastructure investments. Alphabet’s Cloud Is Paying Off—But the Bill for Building It Keeps Growing
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly bullish despite target cuts. Wedbush, KeyCorp, Susquehanna, Truist Financial, Rosenblatt and Cantor Fitzgerald lowered price targets, but retained positive ratings. Guggenheim and Needham reaffirmed “buy” ratings with $450 targets, suggesting the selloff may have created significant perceived upside.
• Positive Sentiment: AI-chip opportunities are expanding. Reports that OpenAI plans to use Google’s tensor processing units, along with Alphabet’s efforts to offer TPUs through Oracle Cloud, could create a new revenue stream and strengthen Google’s position against Nvidia.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known for its Google subsidiary. Google operates a global internet-services business centered on online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a broad range of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools.

Google Cloud provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software services to businesses, governments, and other organizations. Alphabet also develops consumer hardware, including Pixel devices and products for connected homes, while investing in emerging businesses through its “Other Bets” segment, including autonomous transportation and life sciences initiatives.

Alphabet was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring that made Google a subsidiary and provided a separate structure for its expanding portfolio of businesses.

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