Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 5.1% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were up 5.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $288.08 and last traded at $287.56. Approximately 42,390,526 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 23% from the average daily volume of 34,397,477 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.50.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Alphabet to $397, citing growing opportunities to monetize Google Cloud — a catalyst for upside if Cloud revenue and margin expansion continue. Wells Fargo raises PT on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Buy on Alphabet with a $400 price target — another vote of confidence from the sell‑side that supports investor optimism. Needham Reiterates Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Veo 3.1 Lite, a lower‑cost AI video model aimed at broader developer adoption — a product move that can expand AI-related revenue and developer usage at scale. Google unveils cheaper AI video model
• Positive Sentiment: Recent bullish analyst notes and upgrades (including coverage noting buying opportunities after the market pullback) have helped lift sentiment toward GOOGL among institutional investors. Bullish analyst upgrades amid exec sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market commentary (calls that tech valuations look attractive and that mega‑caps are a defensive growth play) is supporting flows into Alphabet, but these are market‑wide dynamics rather than GOOGL‑specific catalysts. Tech valuations look attractive
• Negative Sentiment: Semianalysis CEO Dylan Patel warned that Alphabet’s free cash flow could fall to “basically zero” next year because of heavy AI capex — a high‑impact concern if sustained spending materially erodes free cash flow and capital returns. Semianalysis CEO: FCF hit zero next year
• Negative Sentiment: EU hospitality groups have urged regulators to review how Google applies the DMA’s Article 6(5), raising the risk of regulatory intervention around search rankings and potential remedies that could affect ad/search economics in Europe. EU groups raise concerns over search rankings
• Negative Sentiment: Over 200 child‑development experts urged Google to block AI‑generated videos targeting children on YouTube/YouTube Kids — a reputational and regulatory headache that could force content‑moderation changes and increase moderation costs. Experts urge ban on AI videos for children
• Negative Sentiment: Billionaire Ray Dalio reportedly trimmed his Alphabet position — a high‑profile sale that can signal caution to some investors even if it doesn’t change the company’s fundamentals. Ray Dalio reduces position

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. New Street Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group set a $348.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Arete Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.06.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $310.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $295.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,092,234 shares of company stock worth $112,487,971. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $21,944,208,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $4,338,397,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,159,273 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in Alphabet by 855.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.