William Blair Forecasts Stronger Earnings for Alphabet

Key Points

• William Blair has raised its forecast for Alphabet's FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) to $10.60, up from a previous estimate of $9.83, indicating a strong outlook for the company.
• In its latest earnings report, Alphabet reported earnings of $2.31 per share, surpassing analyst estimates and achieving revenue of $96.43 billion, a 13.8% increase from the same quarter last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.43% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) - Research analysts at William Blair increased their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Alphabet in a report issued on Wednesday, July 23rd. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now anticipates that the information services provider will post earnings of $10.60 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $9.83. The consensus estimate for Alphabet's current full-year earnings is $8.89 per share.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $194.08 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $176.86 and its 200-day moving average is $174.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01. 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 has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,928 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 67,031 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 236,111 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $41,884,000 after purchasing an additional 26,434 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 10,631 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 594,959 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $105,540,000 after acquiring an additional 41,132 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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