William Blair Issues Negative Estimate for Alphabet Earnings

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) – Equities researchers at William Blair dropped their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Alphabet in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 29th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now anticipates that the information services provider will post earnings of $2.10 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.12. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $7.64 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Alphabet’s FY2026 earnings at $9.58 EPS.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.69 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $163.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.32. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $123.93 and a twelve month high of $193.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 62.5% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at $50,765,346. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 219,744 shares of company stock valued at $35,878,764. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 12.27%.

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.