Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares traded down 1% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $309.99 and last traded at $311.69. 17,571,133 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 23,335,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.90.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $856,605,814.08. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total value of $184,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,999.52. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial raised Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and deep-dive bullish takes argue AI-driven capex will widen Alphabet’s competitive moat — Q4 strength (18% revenue growth, 48% Cloud) supports faster recurring revenue and margin expansion, underpinning multi-hundred-dollar price targets. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo moved to a more constructive rating (upgrade/Overweight), part of a cluster of bullish analyst notes and raised price targets (median ~ $370), supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Deep strategic assets and partnerships (14% stake in Anthropic, early SpaceX stake, Gemini distribution across devices) are being highlighted as underappreciated value drivers that reinforce long-term upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Operationally supportive energy and data‑center deals: Google announced a 1.9GW clean-power backing (including a 100‑hour battery) and utilities (Xcel, AES) signed supply agreements for new data centers — reduces energy risk for large AI builds. Read More. and Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry context: Bridgewater estimates Big Tech will invest roughly $650B in AI this year — validates the sector capex trend that benefits hyperscalers but doesn’t single out winners. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Intensifying AI‑chip competition and trade‑secret tensions (Google vs. Nvidia, new entrants raising capital) could pressure costs and supplier dynamics — a nearer-term risk to margins and model-training economics. Read More. and Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concerns about the pace of AI capex hitting free cash flow and accounting scrutiny — social/analyst chatter and high-profile skepticism (Michael Burry) raise questions about FCF, depreciation, and reported margins. Read More. and Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling activity (including CEO filings) is being noted by market participants and can sap near‑term sentiment despite institutional bullishness. Read More.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $321.06 and a 200 day moving average of $281.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 43,821 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,751,000 after buying an additional 11,748 shares during the period. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Ketron Financial bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,685,000. Coastline Complete Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $728,000. Finally, Barnes Wealth Management Group Inc grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Barnes Wealth Management Group Inc now owns 2,902 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.