Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 3.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded up 3.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $349.91 and last traded at $349.39. 35,055,677 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 31,227,176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $338.50.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic’s planned initial public offering could benefit Alphabet because the company reportedly owns about 14% of the AI developer and has additional cloud and chip relationships with it. A successful IPO could increase the value of Alphabet’s stake and provide a visible mark for its AI investments. What the Anthropic IPO Means for Amazon and Alphabet Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Google Cloud’s strong growth, large backlog and Alphabet’s relatively low valuation. Reports note that GOOGL trades at roughly 17 times earnings while its cloud business and custom AI accelerators are expanding rapidly, supporting the long-term investment case. A Sub-20 P/E on GOOGL? The Market May Be Missing Something
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Waymo is expanding internationally after opening its Las Vegas robotaxi service. Waymo and Japanese partners are targeting a fully autonomous commercial taxi launch in Tokyo in 2027, creating a potential long-term growth avenue beyond advertising and cloud computing. Waymo, Japanese partners target driverless taxi service in Tokyo 2027
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Anthropic are discussing cooperation on AI safety standards. The collaboration could reduce catastrophic-risk concerns and improve the industry’s regulatory standing, but it also signals increasing scrutiny of Alphabet’s frontier AI products. OpenAI, Google, Anthropic discussing collaboration on AI safety issues
• Negative Sentiment: Proposed Senate legislation could allow federal regulators to block powerful AI models before commercialization. Such authority could delay product launches and put Alphabet’s substantial cloud backlog and AI investment returns at risk. Senate’s Proposed AI Kill Switch Could Give Washington Veto Power Over Google’s Frontier Models
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Alphabet has suspended buybacks while AI infrastructure spending weighs on free cash flow raise concerns about shareholder dilution and capital-allocation discipline. Higher crude prices, Treasury yields and interest-rate uncertainty have also pressured technology valuations. What Happens To Alphabet Stock If Free Cash Flow Stays Negative?
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts see Reddit’s faster advertising growth and expanding advertiser base as a near-term advantage over Alphabet, adding to concerns about search traffic and digital-advertising competition. RDDT vs. GOOGL: Which Digital Advertising Stock Has an Edge Right Now?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $445.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $345.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $344.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 450,875 shares of company stock valued at $11,984,482. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the second quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 241,937 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,461,000 after buying an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Revere Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 102.3% during the 2nd quarter. Revere Asset Management Inc now owns 1,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the period. Bullseye Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $237,000. Talon Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,426 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,726,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marathon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marathon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,925,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet’s largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.