Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $450.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 29.60% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective (up from $415.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $425.72.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded down $3.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $347.22. 12,983,451 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,711,438. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $348.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $235.84 and a 1-year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 20.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at $6,494,424.20. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 441,399 shares of company stock valued at $8,677,053 over the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 5,460 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,570,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Ruggaard & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Cadia Private Client LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Cadia Private Client LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Evansbrook LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 9,522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google introduced a new Gemini agent capable of completing tasks across workplace applications, strengthening Alphabet’s competition with OpenAI and Microsoft for enterprise AI customers. Google Escalates the AI Agent Wars With Its New Gemini Agent
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs is reportedly seeking a valuation of at least $40 billion—and potentially $50 billion—in a new funding round, highlighting the value investors place on its AI drug-discovery assets. Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs seeks valuation of at least $40 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Waymo secured a $5 billion loan from Blackstone, PIMCO and Sixth Street to fund robotaxi expansion, providing additional capital for a potentially significant future business. Waymo locks in $5B loan
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed its Buy rating and set a $450 price target, while other recent commentary points to Alphabet’s relatively modest valuation, strong margins and potential AI-related upside.
• Positive Sentiment: A new Google-Unity AI gaming platform could expand Google Play’s creator ecosystem, although the commercial impact remains early-stage. Google and Unity Team to Let Users Build Their Own Games
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s long-term nuclear power agreements with Constellation support reliable electricity for data centers and AI workloads, but they also imply substantial future infrastructure and energy costs. Google Signs Nuclear Deal With Constellation Energy
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms announced or promoted securities class actions alleging Alphabet misled investors about the timing and performance of Gemini 3.5 Pro. The notices identify May 19–July 16, 2026 as the relevant period and publicize lead-plaintiff deadlines in late November and early December. These are allegations, not findings of wrongdoing, but the repeated announcements create headline and potential litigation risk. Alphabet investor class action announcement

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology and internet services company best known as the parent company of Google. Its primary business, Google Services, includes online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a range of hardware and subscription products.

Alphabet also operates Google Cloud, which provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, productivity software, and artificial intelligence services to businesses, governments, and other organizations.