Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its price objective hoisted by Piper Sandler from $395.00 to $400.00 in a report released on Monday morning. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

GOOG has been the topic of several other research reports. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $450.00 to $425.00 in a report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. New Street Research lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $455.00 to $405.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $419.93.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $339.16 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $341.54 and a 200-day moving average of $344.67. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $236.68 and a twelve month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 441,316 shares of company stock worth $8,648,795. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,352,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $130,704,718,000 after buying an additional 5,164,200 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,923,442 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,458,980,000 after buying an additional 5,208,690 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $18,093,665,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher price target and TPU opportunity: Piper Sandler raised its Alphabet price target from $395 to $400 and maintained an “overweight” rating, citing the potential for Google’s custom TPU chips to become a major revenue stream. The firm reportedly sees TPU revenue reaching $104 billion by 2028. Wall Street upgrades Google stock price target
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure and cloud expansion: Crusoe said it is developing Google’s AI-focused data-center campus in Texas, while Google Cloud expanded its collaboration with Thales to secure and govern enterprise agentic-AI workflows. These developments support Alphabet’s long-term AI infrastructure and cloud monetization strategy. Crusoe developing Google data center campus
• Positive Sentiment: Potential Gemini catalyst: Google is reportedly nearing the launch of Gemini 4, which could help Alphabet compete more effectively with newer agentic-AI products. Google is also testing AI-assisted shopping through Gemini and AI Mode in India. Gemini 4 catalyst
• Neutral Sentiment: AI policy scrutiny is increasing: Senators are seeking information from Google and other hyperscalers about tax subsidies for AI and data-center investments. The issue could affect future costs and regulatory expectations but does not immediately change Alphabet’s operating outlook. Senate questions AI tax subsidies
• Negative Sentiment: AI competitive concerns: Analysts and commentators questioned whether Alphabet is monetizing its massive AI capital spending as effectively as rivals and whether products such as Meta’s Muse and Instinct are gaining momentum faster. Google’s decision to replace Gemini “Gems” with “skills” reinforced concerns that its AI product strategy remains in transition. Investors concerned about Google AI competition
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and spending risks: Ireland’s privacy regulator fined Google €403 million over historical location-data practices. At the same time, ballooning AI infrastructure spending and concerns about reduced buybacks are weighing on near-term cash-flow and valuation sentiment. Google privacy fine

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. Established in 2015 through a corporate restructuring, Alphabet oversees Google and a collection of businesses focused on technology, innovation and emerging industries. Sundar Pichai serves as Alphabet’s chief executive officer and also leads Google.

Google is Alphabet’s primary business and operates an internet ecosystem that includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.