Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given "Buy" Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham reaffirmed a “Buy” rating on Alphabet with a $450 price target, implying approximately 28.4% upside from the reported $350.50 share price. The broader analyst consensus is also “Buy,” with an average target of $425.72.
• Alphabet reported a significant quarterly earnings beat, posting $9.11 in earnings per share versus the $2.89 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $119.80 billion. Analysts expect full-year earnings of $20.55 per share.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 40.03% of shares, although insiders sold 441,399 shares worth about $8.7 million over the past quarter.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $450.00 price objective on the information services provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.39% from the stock's current price.

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. DZ Bank raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $425.72.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $350.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $348.83. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $235.84 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet will post 20.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the firm'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 directly owned 19,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,494,424.20. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 441,399 shares of company stock valued at $8,677,053 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 238,977,259 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,403,303,000 after acquiring an additional 12,718,127 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,394,474 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $14,208,470,000 after purchasing an additional 208,362 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 33,203,350 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,865,809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,371 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 29,166,806 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,129,210,000 after purchasing an additional 478,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.1% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,724,321 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,334,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631,721 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google signed long-term nuclear-power agreements with Constellation Energy covering approximately 3,590 megawatts, including 890 megawatts of additional capacity. The contracts strengthen Alphabet’s ability to secure reliable electricity for AI data centers and provide evidence that management is addressing AI’s substantial power requirements. Google Signs Nuclear Deal With Constellation Energy
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and Unity Software launched an AI-powered game-creation platform that allows users to build playable games with natural-language prompts. The initiative could expand Google Play’s creator ecosystem, increase engagement and provide another commercial application for Alphabet’s AI models. Google and Unity Team to Let Users Build Their Own Games
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators remain constructive on Alphabet, citing strong margins, accelerating Google Cloud growth, continued search resilience and a price-to-earnings ratio near 17.6. Several reports describe the stock as undervalued relative to expected earnings and AI growth. Alphabet’s Chart Is Coiling—and the Fundamentals May Be Ready to Back It Up
• Neutral Sentiment: Google introduced SynthID, a website that identifies AI-generated images, video and audio. The tool may improve trust in Google’s AI ecosystem, although the immediate financial impact is unclear. Google's new SynthID website can identify AI-generated media
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms are promoting a securities class action alleging investor losses during the May 19–July 16 class period. These announcements do not establish liability, but they add headline risk and could lead to legal costs or reputational concerns. Kaplan Fox Alphabet Investor Notice
• Negative Sentiment: A Finnish court ordered Google to halt work on two data centers pending environmental-impact assessments. Delays could increase costs or slow the expansion of computing capacity, although the near-term effect on Alphabet’s overall results is likely limited. Google ordered to halt work on two Finland data centers

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology and internet services company best known as the parent company of Google. Its primary business, Google Services, includes online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a range of hardware and subscription products.

Alphabet also operates Google Cloud, which provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, productivity software, and artificial intelligence services to businesses, governments, and other organizations.