Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 1% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares shot up 1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $331.48 and last traded at $329.2930. 17,013,086 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 20,735,385 shares. The stock had previously closed at $326.01.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets boost upside expectations for GOOG, with Canaccord and others lifting targets well above prior levels — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Canaccord Raises PT to $390
• Positive Sentiment: AI product momentum: reports show Gemini gaining share versus ChatGPT and Gemini-powered features rolling into Gmail at scale — this supports stronger ad/search monetization and cloud expectations. Gemini Gains Market Share
• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap milestone: Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world’s No.2 public company — a sign of investor confidence that can attract index/ETF flows and reinforce momentum. Alphabet Surpasses Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Wiz acquisition pending EU approval by Feb.10 — approval would remove a large M&A overhang; rejection would be a setback. Outcome is material but binary. EU to Decide on Wiz Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo branding/product updates signal long-term autonomy growth but limited near-term EPS impact; watch commercialization cadence. Waymo Rebrands Robotaxi
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/reputational pressure: three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to suspend X and Grok from their app stores over sexualized images of minors created via AI — a headline that raises moderation/regulatory scrutiny for app stores and Google’s ecosystem. Senators Call to Suspend X and Grok
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure from AI products: Alphabet and Character.AI settled suits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors (including a teen suicide), underscoring potential costs, regulation and reputational risk. AI Lawsuit Settlements
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and talent movement: CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed a multi-million-dollar share sale; separately, Nvidia hired a Google marketing veteran — both can weigh on near-term sentiment and raise questions about insider cashing and talent retention. Pichai Share Sale

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $318.18.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $305.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.33.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at $5,706,357.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 227,965 shares of company stock valued at $67,495,822 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 400.0% in the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley raised its stake in Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Fairman Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 121.3% during the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.