Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 4.8% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shot up 4.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $354.35 and last traded at $353.65. 33,496,061 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 32,996,105 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.39.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet officially joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Verizon, which is seen as a milestone that boosts visibility and institutional demand. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Several market commentary pieces note the stock is bouncing from its recent pullback, with analysts and investors framing the selloff as a buying opportunity in large-cap tech. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on Alphabet with a $445 price target, signaling continued upside potential despite recent weakness. Yahoo Finance article
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google Cloud and AI efforts continue to draw attention, including a new partnership with the Philippine government to deploy AI agents in public services, underscoring ongoing AI monetization opportunities. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Other articles highlight continued AI demand, but also note Alphabet’s compute constraints and competitive pressure, including reports that Meta’s access to Gemini capacity was limited. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Despite today’s rebound, Alphabet has been under pressure recently, with investors worried about heavier AI spending, talent losses, and a weak June performance versus other megacap peers. Motley Fool article

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Phillip Securities boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. CICC Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $460.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, China Renaissance raised their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $368.94 and a 200-day moving average of $333.02. The company has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 1.44 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 issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 151,523 shares of company stock worth $4,863,526. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.