Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 5% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price rose 5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $287.05 and last traded at $286.7050. Approximately 30,953,583 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 39% from the average daily volume of 22,331,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.14.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google released Veo 3.1 Lite, a lower-cost AI video model and signaled plans to cut AI inference pricing — a direct product/cost advantage that can expand market share for video generation and reduce customer costs. Google Introduces Veo 3.1 Lite, a New AI Video Model
• Positive Sentiment: Street commentary credits a Google-related market signal (the “nine?minute Bitcoin warning”) as helping lift sentiment — headlines like this can trigger program/flow buying and perception-driven rallies in big-cap tech. Alphabet Climbs 5%: Google’s Nine-Minute Bitcoin Warning Is Turning Heads on Wall Street
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is a meaningful weighting in major ETFs (QQQ, VTI, VOO); intraday index/ETF inflows and gains in other megacaps are helping lift GOOG as ETFs rebalance and flows chase winners. QQQ is up 1.3% today, on PLTR stock price movement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst / thematic support: Market stories highlight Alphabet as a core AI/cloud compounder (strong Google Cloud growth, large backlog) and it appears on several buy/AI stock lists — supports conviction for medium-term investors. 5 Cloud and AI Infrastructure Stocks Powering the Next Wave of AI (Alphabet section)
• Neutral Sentiment: New consumer features (Search Live, Live Translate expansions, Gemini model updates) reinforce product momentum but are longer-term monetization plays rather than immediate revenue catalysts. Alphabet (Google) Makes AI Tools More Accessible with Search Live Feature
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / legal risk: a recent Los Angeles social?media addiction verdict (and related appeals) plus Indonesia summoning Google over child social media rules raise compliance and reputational concerns that could pressure ad/product strategies. Meta (META) and Google (GOOGL) Held Liable in Landmark Social Media Addiction Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Some publishers (e.g., Future plc) warned margins were hit by Google search changes — signals that search algorithm/product shifts can disrupt partner revenues and could prompt regulatory or partnership scrutiny. UK publisher Future’s shares plummet as changes in Google search traffic hit margins

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 target price (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

Alphabet Trading Up 5.0%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $311.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.Alphabet’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,092,336 shares of company stock worth $112,519,943 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $1,699,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $4,941,000. Painted Porch Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 4,051 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $646,000. Finally, AMG Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $296,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.