DZ Bank Upgrades Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to “Strong-Buy”

Posted by Geri Gentry on Jul 25th, 2026

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) was upgraded by DZ Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of other reports. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $460.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $419.86.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOGL

Alphabet Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $319.74 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $362.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $338.74. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $187.82 and a 52-week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 14.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the first quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 5,460 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,570,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the first quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Cadia Private Client LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cadia Private Client LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Evansbrook LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 9,522 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q2 results showed strong underlying demand, including an 82% surge in Google Cloud revenue and continued growth in Search and YouTube, reinforcing that its core businesses are still expanding. Google Cloud CEO Kurian says customers are spending 50% more as segment blows away expectations
Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Barclays argued that a TPU-as-a-service offering could materially lift Alphabet’s long-term profitability, suggesting the market may be underestimating future AI monetization. TPU-As-A-Service could boost Google’s 2028 profit by over 15%: Barclays
Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a more than $1 billion dark-fiber deal to support Google’s data centers, underscoring ongoing infrastructure demand tied to Alphabet’s AI and cloud expansion. Verizon signs deal with Google worth over $1 billion
Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet was included in a momentum screen highlighting stocks with strong earnings and favorable price trends, which is supportive but not a major stock-specific catalyst. 3 High-Momentum Stocks to Buy Now Before They Surge
Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position, so this does not appear to be a major driver of the move.
Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried that Alphabet’s AI spending is becoming too large, with the company increasing 2026 capex guidance and reporting negative free cash flow for the first time in years. Alphabet earnings takeaways: Q2 revenue beats, GOOGL stock sinks on 2026 capex hike
Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faced fresh regulatory pressure after the European Commission fined Google about $1 billion under the Digital Markets Act. Google hit with $1 billion EU fine, first under landmark rules
Negative Sentiment: Waymo reportedly may try to end its partnership with Uber, which could create uncertainty around one of Alphabet’s autonomous-driving distribution channels. Waymo reportedly mulling a breakup with Uber

About Alphabet

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Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.