Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Estimate for Alphabet Earnings

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Research analysts at Wedbush reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Alphabet in a report released on Tuesday, April 15th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now forecasts that the information services provider will post earnings per share of $2.03 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.04. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Mizuho dropped their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.46.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $153.33 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $166.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.98. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,663 shares of company stock valued at $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. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio 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.