Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Cut to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was downgraded by Cantor Fitzgerald from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. HSBC increased their price objective on Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target (up from $320.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $329.08.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.4%

GOOGL stock opened at $322.00 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $312.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.45. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $340.49. The company has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. This trade represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 189,909 shares of company stock worth $57,927,282. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,546,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $448,684,000 after acquiring an additional 56,295 shares in the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares in the last quarter. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $352,000. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.9% in the third quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised targets — Deutsche Bank boosted its price target to $370 and kept a buy rating, and Robert W. Baird raised its target to $350 with an outperform rating. These lifts signal continued analyst confidence and create upside support for the stock. Deutsche Bank Raises Target Baird Raises Target
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum — reports show a surge in sales of Google’s Gemini AI models, which supports revenue growth from higher-margin AI services and strengthens the company’s competitive AI positioning. Gemini Sales Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Google-backed drug discovery timeline pushed — Isomorphic Labs now expects first clinical trials by end?2026. This delays any near-term biotech upside tied to Alphabet’s life?sciences investments but has limited impact on core ad/cloud businesses. Isomorphic Labs Delay
• Neutral Sentiment: Product development coverage — media pieces on Google’s new AI?powered smart glasses and long-term cloud/AI revenue narratives reiterate growth potential but are not immediate catalysts. AI Smart Glasses Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Sector risk-off pressured shares — escalating geopolitical/tariff rhetoric (Greenland tensions) triggered a tech-led sell-off that weighed on Alphabet along with peers; market positioning and broader risk sentiment are the main short-term drivers of the decline. Tech Sell-off / Greenland Tensions
• Negative Sentiment: Price action noted by market coverage — headlines point out Alphabet fell more than the broader market today, reflecting both the sector pullback and profit?taking after recent gains. That media focus can amplify short?term selling pressure. Zacks: Why GOOGL Fell

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.