Alphabet’s (GOOGL) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at UBS Group

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at UBS Group in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Dbs Bank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $412.65.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $2.65 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $385.01. 7,576,672 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,475,125. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $162.00 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $319.32. The company has a market capitalization of $4.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norris Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,782,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 56.1% during the first quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,347 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563 shares in the last quarter. Orographic Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,997,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its stake in Alphabet by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 187,453 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,904,000 after purchasing an additional 12,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,061,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed its buy rating on Alphabet and set a $450 price target, signaling continued upside from current levels. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and Blackstone announced a $5 billion AI cloud venture built around Google’s TPUs, a move that could boost AI infrastructure revenue and strengthen Alphabet’s competitive position. Thales inks deal with Google for homegrown German cloud provider
• Positive Sentiment: Google I/O showcased a broad AI push across Search, Gemini, Workspace, shopping, and video tools, reinforcing the view that Alphabet is monetizing AI at scale rather than merely defending against rivals. Google debuts new AI models, personal AI agents in effort to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remained constructive, with Arete Research lifting its price target to $425 and maintaining a buy rating. Arete Research adjusts price target on Alphabet to $425 from $405
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed some insider selling, including a director sale, but the transactions appear routine and are not a strong fundamental signal on their own. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are wary that Google’s AI-heavy Search redesign could disrupt its core ad model, as the long-standing “ten blue links” format gives way to more AI-generated answers. Google Search as you know it is over

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.