Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 2.7% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares traded up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $372.99 and last traded at $369.35. 27,457,727 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 31,917,732 shares. The stock had previously closed at $359.68.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Alphabet as a key AI winner, including strong interest in Gemini, cloud growth, and broader enterprise adoption of its AI tools. 3 AI Stocks Poised for Long-Term Gains Despite Strong Year-to-Date Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel reportedly tripled Berkshire’s Alphabet stake last quarter and increased it further, reinforcing confidence from a major long-term investor. Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel Just Made a Big Bet on Who Will Win the AI Races — And He’s Even Tipping the Scale in Its Favor
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s overlooked businesses got fresh attention after Wing expanded drone delivery with Walmart and Waymo launched a monthly membership program, suggesting additional growth avenues beyond search and ads. Alphabet’s Most Overlooked Division Just Had a Big Week
• Neutral Sentiment: Google said a Chinese-linked hacking group targeted U.S. and Canadian research facilities for over a year, a reminder of cybersecurity risks, but the story centers more on Google’s threat-detection capabilities than a direct financial hit. Chinese-linked hackers targeted U.S.,Canadian research facilities for a year, Google says
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces framed Alphabet as a beneficiary of rising AI infrastructure spending and broader tech strength, which supports sentiment but does not add new company-specific news. What to Expect From Q2 Earnings as Tech Strength Broadens (GOOGL)
• Negative Sentiment: One article raised concern that Alphabet is heavily spending to compete in the AI race and may be issuing stock to help fund that effort, which could pressure margins or dilute shareholders if costs stay elevated. Alphabet is Raising $84.75 Billion to Win the AI Wars. Should Investors Celebrate or Worry?

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $360.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 191,966 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,968 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,546,413,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.