Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price rose 1.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $345.43 and last traded at $342.88. Approximately 17,111,827 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 21,009,361 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.71.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s accelerating revenue, AI adoption and reported $514 billion backlog are strengthening Alphabet’s competitive position against Microsoft and Amazon, although capacity constraints remain. Rising Cloud Revenue Strengthens Alphabet Against Microsoft and Amazon
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism remains supportive: Wolfe Research named Alphabet a top 2027 pick and cited potential for significant Google Cloud growth, while other commentary points to attractive valuation and expanding AI-driven advertising returns. Alphabet Is a Top 2027 Stock Pick
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s expanding custom AI-chip relationship with Marvell could help secure long-term TPU capacity and diversify its semiconductor supply chain. The agreement reportedly could generate up to $120 billion for Marvell, underscoring the scale of Google’s AI infrastructure spending. Marvell Announced a Google AI Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet adjusted its site-reputation policy in the European Economic Area after discussions with the European Commission. Suspending manual search penalties may reduce the risk of an antitrust fine, but the change could affect search-quality controls and publisher dynamics. Google Changes Spam Policy in EU
• Negative Sentiment: Google agreed to pay approximately $353 million to settle a UK class action alleging excessive Play Store commissions. The settlement removes some litigation uncertainty but adds to Alphabet’s regulatory costs and could encourage further scrutiny of its app-store practices. Google Agrees to Settle UK App Developers Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC is reportedly nearing a potential lawsuit over whether YouTube misled users through its account-suspension policies, creating another legal and regulatory overhang for Alphabet. US FTC Probes YouTube
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that major technology companies have roughly $3 trillion in off-balance-sheet AI commitments may heighten concerns about Alphabet’s capital intensity, execution risk and future free cash flow as it competes in the AI race. Big Tech’s AI Spending Is Higher Than It Seems

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 451,843 shares of company stock valued at $12,343,852 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $45,352,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $18,093,665,000. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Alphabet by 850.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,551,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830,754 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.