Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was up 1.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $330.32 and last traded at $325.44. Approximately 31,487,588 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 31,891,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $321.98.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet has reclaimed the No.2 market?cap spot ahead of Apple, a symbolic win that can boost investor sentiment and ETF flows into GOOGL. Higher index weight and headline momentum are supporting the rally. Alphabet’s market cap surpasses Apple’s for first time since 2019
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and outlets are upgrading Alphabet on expectations that its Gemini/AI stack will take share from rivals (and lift search and cloud monetization), keeping bullish price targets and favourable sentiment around shares. Alphabet Stock Gets an Upgrade. How Google Will Beat ChatGPT.
• Positive Sentiment: EU policymakers appear to be softening proposed digital rules for big tech, reducing the risk of heavy-handed new restrictions that could have pressured ad/search businesses. That regulatory relief is a supportive backdrop for the stock. Exclusive: Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s proposed $32B acquisition of cybersecurity firm Wiz is under EU review with a decision due by Feb. 10 — a binary catalyst that could create short?term volatility depending on approval, remedies or delay. EU antitrust regulators to decide on Google’s Wiz deal by February 10
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet and startup Character.AI agreed to settle lawsuits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors (including a teen suicide case). Although settlements remove some legal overhang, they highlight reputational, regulatory and compliance risks for AI products that investors should monitor. Google, Character.AI to settle suits involving suicides and AI chatbots
• Negative Sentiment: Despite strong gains (GOOGL has been a top performer among the Magnificent 7), some analysts warn about valuation stretch — a factor that could cap upside if macro or execution risks reappear. GOOGL Best Performing Magnificent 7 Stock in a Year: Buy or Hold Now?

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wolfe Research set a $380.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Alphabet from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.42.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $304.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors 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 was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total transaction of $31,971.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 192,687 shares of company stock valued at $56,255,711 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $21,944,208,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,338,397,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,159,273 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 51.7% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,607,232,000 after buying an additional 10,843,853 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.