Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Cut to Hold at Citizens Jmp

Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from a market outperform rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $375.00 target price (down from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Moffett Nathanson set a $345.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Freedom Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $410.46.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $279.84 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $270.70 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $339.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $340.17.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.02 by ($0.90). The business had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 50.03%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 20.05 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,494,424.20. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $35,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Premier Financial Group bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Van Den Berg Management I Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 319.6% during the first quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 214 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue more than doubled year over year to approximately $30.7 billion, while its backlog reached $561 billion. The results support Alphabet’s position as a major beneficiary of enterprise AI demand. Alphabet’s Cloud Business Just Doubled
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain constructive after the selloff. Guggenheim and Needham reaffirmed “buy” ratings with $450 targets, while Citigroup and Wells Fargo retained bullish ratings and projected substantial upside despite lowering their targets.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI ecosystem could gain from rising demand for cloud capacity and specialized chips. Waymo is also expanding internationally through a partnership with Toyota, although the business remains small relative to Alphabet’s core operations. Waymo taps Toyota to supply robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple securities law firms publicized class-action lawsuits and lead-plaintiff deadlines tied to alleged disclosures about Alphabet’s Gemini AI development. These notices add headline risk, but their direct financial impact remains uncertain.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet reported adjusted earnings of $2.12 per share, below consensus near $2.94-$3.02, while revenue of $127.6 billion also missed expectations. Search and other revenue grew about 12% to roughly $63 billion, but fell short of forecasts, reinforcing fears that AI-generated answers and “AI mode” searches may monetize less effectively than traditional Search.
• Negative Sentiment: AI infrastructure spending caused free cash flow to remain negative by roughly $9.1 billion for a second consecutive quarter. Investors are questioning whether the enormous capital outlays will produce adequate returns and whether Alphabet may need additional debt or equity financing.
• Negative Sentiment: An unrealized loss on Alphabet’s SpaceX investment reduced quarterly earnings by approximately $0.55 per share, while an EU antitrust fine further pressured results. Analysts including RBC, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Wedbush, KeyCorp and Cantor Fitzgerald lowered price targets, even though most maintained positive ratings.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known for its Google subsidiary. Google operates a global internet-services business centered on online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a broad range of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools.

Google Cloud provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software services to businesses, governments, and other organizations. Alphabet also develops consumer hardware, including Pixel devices and products for connected homes, while investing in emerging businesses through its “Other Bets” segment, including autonomous transportation and life sciences initiatives.

Alphabet was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring that made Google a subsidiary and provided a separate structure for its expanding portfolio of businesses.