Wedbush Weighs in on Alphabet’s Q1 Earnings (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Investment analysts at Wedbush reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Alphabet in a report released on Tuesday, April 15th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now expects that the information services provider will earn $2.03 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.04. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Alphabet’s Q3 2025 earnings at $2.09 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.25 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.33 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.68 EPS.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.74.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $151.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $165.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.77.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.