Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price reached 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.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google rolled out Project Genie, an AI model that can generate fully rendered, interactive 3D worlds from simple prompts — a direct competitive advantage for Google in AI content creation that pressured gaming rivals (a potential long-term revenue and platform win for Alphabet). Videogame stocks slide on Google’s AI model that turns prompts into playable worlds
• Positive Sentiment: Project Genie coverage specifically names Unity and Roblox as being hurt by the announcement, underscoring that Google’s tech could displace parts of the gaming content creation stack — bullish for Alphabet’s AI moat and cloud/AI services demand. Google’s Project Genie Hammers Gaming Stocks. Unity Software and Roblox Sink.
• Positive Sentiment: Google disrupted a large residential proxy network (IPIDEA), claiming it removed millions of devices from abuse — a reputational and security win that reduces fraud and could lower costs/risks for Google services. Google disrupts large residential proxy network, reducing devices used by ‘millions’
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded airport robotaxi service in San Francisco — a commercial growth milestone for Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle unit that supports long-term service monetization. Waymo Opens Up Airport Service in San Francisco. Everything to Know About the Robotaxi
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and outlets are prepping for Alphabet’s upcoming Q4 results; estimate-driven coverage (Zacks) focuses attention on key metrics and could amplify post-earnings moves. Ahead of Alphabet (GOOGL) Q4 Earnings: Get Ready With Wall Street Estimates for Key Metrics
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry write-ups compare Alphabet to rivals in AI infrastructure (CoreWeave, Amazon) and note that Amazon/Google moves are chipping at Nvidia’s exclusivity in AI chips — a mixed competitive backdrop for cloud/AI spend. CRVW vs. GOOGL: Which Stock Wins the AI Infrastructure Race?
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting Amazon and Google eating into Nvidia’s chip dominance signals broader industry capex and partnership shifts — relevant to Alphabet’s cloud/TPU strategy but not an immediate stock catalyst. Amazon and Google Eat Into Nvidia’s A.I. Chip Supremacy
• Negative Sentiment: A federal jury found former Google engineer Linwei Ding guilty of stealing trade secrets and uploading internal AI materials to personal cloud accounts — a headline that highlights IP risk and could trigger internal reviews, compliance costs or client concerns. Former Google engineer found guilty of espionage and theft of AI tech
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo reported an incident where a robotaxi struck a child near a school and the NHTSA opened an investigation — a regulatory and PR risk for Alphabet’s AV program that could delay rollouts or invite additional oversight. A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school. The NHTSA is investigating

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Mizuho set a $365.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $224.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up from $306.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $334.60.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $320.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,798,832.60. This trade represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,067,707 shares of company stock valued at $103,627,383 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 87,294 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,384,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 14,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,513,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 12.5% during the second quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 32,163 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,668,000 after buying an additional 3,581 shares during the last quarter. 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.