Analysts Set Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Price Target at $343.90

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the forty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have issued a buy recommendation and nine have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $345.7097.

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. DA Davidson set a $300.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hires Jasjeet Sekhon from Bridgewater as chief strategy officer, strengthening DeepMind’s strategic and research bench at a time when top AI talent is a competitive advantage. Bridgewater’s chief scientist Sekhon to join Google’s DeepMind AI unit
• Positive Sentiment: Google rolled out a redesigned Stitch AI design tool that analysts/publications say can displace incumbents (Adobe, Figma), creating near-term competitive pressure on rivals and reinforcing Google’s product-led push into AI-powered developer/designer workflows. Adobe Stock Drops After Google’s Stitch Redesign
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Wiz acquisition (cloud security) and other cloud investments continue to beef up Google Cloud’s product stack, supporting revenue/corporate sales momentum versus AWS/Azure. GOOGL’s Wiz Buyout Expands Cloud Security Portfolio: What’s Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Google is expanding ties with the U.S. military and is well positioned to benefit after rivals stumble — a potential source of large, recurring cloud and services contracts. Google Sits Pretty as A.I. Rivals Compete for Pentagon Favor
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is in talks to buy liquid-cooling systems from Chinese vendors (Envicool and others) and may acquire a Chinese cooling firm — moves aimed at supporting energy-efficient AI data center scale. This reduces future supply/capacity constraints for AI workloads. Google in talks with China’s Envicool, others to buy data centre cooling systems, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Google told UK regulators it will let sites opt out of generative-AI features in search, a concession meant to ease competition concerns — reduces regulatory overhang but could limit product scope in the UK. Google to allow AI opt-out to ease UK competition concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet paid a small dividend on March 16 ($0.21/share) — a modest cash return that is unlikely to move the stock materially but supports shareholder yield narrative. Google stock just paid dividends; here’s how much investors received
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts flag valuation/near-term margin pressure — Alphabet’s elevated P/E and rising capex for AI/data centers keep some investors cautious despite strong growth. Is Alphabet Stock’s 25.55X PE Still Worth it? Buy, Sell, or Hold?
• Negative Sentiment: High executive compensation scrutiny after reports of Sundar Pichai’s large pay package could raise governance concerns for some investors. What Sundar Pichai’s $692 Million Pay Package Says About Alphabet’s Next Chapter

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,914,730.12. The trade was a 1.43% 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, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,109,115 shares of company stock valued at $117,815,536. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 100.0% during the second quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $306.30 on Thursday. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $350.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $318.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.