Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given New $420.00 Price Target at BNP Paribas Exane

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective upped by BNP Paribas Exane from $390.00 to $420.00 in a report published on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Alphabet from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.48.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

GOOGL traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $385.49. 7,261,198 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,189,363. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $313.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $307.81. The company has a market cap of $4.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.12. Alphabet has a one year low of $147.84 and a one year high of $385.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 41.25% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total value of $10,893,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,179,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,481,906.96. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 191,884 shares of company stock worth $59,121,365 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $416,217,000. Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,401,000 after buying an additional 4,241 shares in the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after buying an additional 7,180 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 274,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,000,000 after buying an additional 23,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,171,000 after buying an additional 8,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blowout Q1 results — strong ad, subscription and Google Cloud growth reset expectations and underpin optimism that AI investments are paying off. Alphabet Cloud Beats Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street upgrades and price-target raises from multiple banks (including JPMorgan, Goldman, Cantor Fitzgerald, Citi and others) are amplifying buy-side momentum and providing fresh upside narratives. JPMorgan Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Big‑picture AI spending tailwinds — hyperscalers’ 2026 AI commitments topping ~$700B increase demand for cloud services and infrastructure that benefits Google Cloud long term. Hyperscalers AI Spend
• Positive Sentiment: Government work: the Pentagon reached agreements with leading AI firms including Google — supports revenue diversity and potential long-term contracts. Pentagon AI Agreements
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder-friendly moves: Alphabet raised its quarterly dividend (small yield) and saw unusually large call-option buying, both signaling investor confidence and demand for upside exposure.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product momentum: Gemini is rolling into millions of vehicles and partnerships (Stripe integration, Waymo expansions) broaden monetization paths, but revenue impact will scale over time. Gemini in Vehicles
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and governance risks — Italy asked the EU to probe Google’s AI search tools; Switzerland opened a probe into keyword-bidding practices; investors are pressing Alphabet on safeguards for cloud/AI use. Those issues increase legal/regulatory uncertainty. Italy EU Probe Request Switzerland Probe Investor Safeguards Push
• Negative Sentiment: Rising CapEx — Alphabet signaled continued heavy investment in AI/data centers; while investors rewarded growth this quarter, sustained high capex can pressure free cash flow and sentiment if growth slows. CapEx Surge Note

About Alphabet

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.