Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Alphabet Earnings

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Investment analysts at Wedbush cut their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Alphabet in a report issued on Tuesday, April 15th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now expects that the information services provider will post earnings per share of $1.95 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $2.16. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.74.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $151.08 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 47,634 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,900,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $154,000. Dean Investment Associates LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,009 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.