Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $341.93 and last traded at $340.3290, with a volume of 855362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $336.01.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google said it disrupted a large residential proxy network that let bad actors route traffic through consumer devices, reducing devices exploited by “millions” — a security win that lowers operational and reputational risk. Google disrupts large residential proxy network, reducing devices used by ‘millions’
• Positive Sentiment: Additional reporting highlights Google’s takedown of networks selling residential proxies — reinforcing the scale and impact of the action for users and enterprise partners. Google Disrupts Network That Allowed Bad Actors to Use Consumers’ IP Addresses
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is expanding AI features — adding image-generation capabilities to Chrome and accelerating deals to strengthen its Gemini model across media, voice and international markets — supporting growth in Search and Cloud. Google adds AI image generation to Chrome browser, side panel option for virtual assistant
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage turned favorable this week (Needham, RBC and other upgrades/reiterations), and a report noted the stock trading higher after upgrades — supporting short-term buying interest. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: The EU signaled steps to ensure rivals get access to Gemini services and data under digital rules — could broaden distribution but may reduce competitive edge; impact remains ambiguous. EU steps in to make sure Google gives rivals access to AI services and data
• Neutral Sentiment: Market notes and analyst previews expect earnings growth next week and highlight AI as the key catalyst; these expectations create upside if Alphabet posts a beat. Alphabet (GOOGL) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting in these feeds appears anomalous (shows zero), so there’s no clear short-squeeze signal from the data posted here.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority proposed rules forcing Google to give publishers options to opt out of AI overviews and to change ranking/transparency practices — potential long-term revenue and product-friction risk in a major market. UK regulator proposes changes to Google search for publishers
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet agreed to pay roughly $135 million to settle a U.S. lawsuit over handling of cellular data, which includes changes to Google Play and Android setup flows — a modest but tangible legal/operational cost and reminder of regulatory/legal exposure. Google to Pay $135 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over Handling of Cellular Data

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Citic Securities raised their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $346.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $334.60.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.38. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% 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, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at $662,526,494.12. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 222,297 shares of company stock worth $68,531,851. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,546,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $448,684,000 after acquiring an additional 56,295 shares during the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth $352,000. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after buying an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.