William Blair Brokers Raise Earnings Estimates for Alphabet

Key Points

• William Blair has raised its FY2026 earnings per share estimate for Alphabet from $9.83 to $10.60, above the current consensus estimate of $8.90.
• Various analysts have increased their price targets for Alphabet, with Barclays raising it to $235.00 and Westpark Capital to $220.00, reflecting a generally optimistic outlook.
• Alphabet's CEO recently sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock, indicating insider transactions amidst the positive earnings forecast.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) - Equities researchers at William Blair boosted their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Alphabet in a report issued on Wednesday, July 23rd. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now forecasts that the information services provider will post earnings per share of $10.60 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $9.83. The consensus estimate for Alphabet's current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.32.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $193.18 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $175.77 and its 200 day moving average is $172.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

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