Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Alphabet shares rose 2% to $290.63, while trading volume was 15% below its average.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $413.38; 41 analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy.
• Quarterly revenue grew 24.7% year over year to $127.58 billion, but earnings of $2.12 per share missed the $3.01 consensus. Google is testing a faster Gemini model and increasing its Anthropic investment, while a securities class action adds legal uncertainty.

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) were up 2% on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $292.97 and last traded at $290.63. Approximately 17,792,749 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 20,866,754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $284.92.

Latest Alphabet News

These are some of the GOOG news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly testing a faster Gemini 4 Flash model internally, following the launch of Gemini 4 Carbon for developers and businesses. Further model improvements could strengthen Alphabet’s AI offering, though commercial impact remains to be seen. Google is letting staff test a fast new Gemini AI model
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet has committed another $10 billion to Anthropic at its IPO price, adding to its investment in the AI company. Anthropic’s reliance on Google Cloud could also support cloud demand, although the value of the stake depends on the eventual market price. Alphabet is set to become an even bigger Anthropic shareholder
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized a securities class action filed on behalf of investors who bought Alphabet shares from May 19 to July 16, 2026. The allegations include claims that the company misrepresented Gemini 3.5 Pro’s progress; the claims are unproven, but the litigation adds uncertainty and potential legal costs. Kaplan Fox reminds investors of securities class action deadline

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. DZ Bank raised Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. HSBC set a $515.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Friday, August 14th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $450.00 to $425.00 in a report on Monday, July 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.38.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.0%

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $327.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $336.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.01 by ($0.89). Alphabet had a net margin of 50.03% and a return on equity of 43.33%. The company had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.87 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 4.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 247 shares of company stock worth $79,238. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $45,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 76.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 14,581,870 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,182,952,000 after purchasing an additional 6,300,900 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,923,442 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $67,458,980,000 after purchasing an additional 5,208,690 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $130,704,718,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164,200 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Alphabet by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 21,922,379 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,288,654,000 after purchasing an additional 4,083,758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet is a technology holding company whose primary business is Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google became part of Alphabet when the company adopted a holding-company structure in 2015. Sundar Pichai leads Alphabet and Google as chief executive officer. Google offers internet search, online advertising, cloud computing, and software and hardware products. Its services and products include Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Cloud.

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