Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 1.1% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price traded down 1.1% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $309.87 and last traded at $311.49. 31,324,690 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 36,966,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.98.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total value 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 approximately $856,605,814.08. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total transaction of $184,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,999.52. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 price target (up from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price target (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.57.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets provide near-term support — Loop Capital raised its price target to $355 and Wells Fargo moved to a more constructive stance, boosting buy-side momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo commercialization expands — Waymo is rolling out robotaxi service to multiple new U.S. markets (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Orlando), which supports a pathway to revenue growth for Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle unit. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Big data-center energy deals lower operational risk for AI/cloud buildout — Google announced a 1.9GW clean-power-backed Minnesota project that includes a 300MW / 100-hour battery, and utilities/energy firms signed long-term supply deals for new Google sites, improving power resiliency for Cloud/AI capacity. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Hidden assets and ecosystem stakes add optionality — Alphabet’s strategic holdings (notably ~14% of Anthropic and an early SpaceX stake) plus Gemini integrations (including reported Apple interest) are underappreciated upside drivers for Cloud, AI licensing and potential mark-to-market gains. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry capex race: Bridgewater sees ~$650B in Big Tech AI investment for 2026 — this underscores continued capacity expansion that benefits hyperscalers but increases execution/timing uncertainty. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: AI chip competition heats up — WSJ coverage highlights intensifying GPU/custom-chip rivalry (Google vs. Nvidia and others), a structural trend that affects margins, procurement and product differentiation. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable investor rotations and selling — reports show Renaissance trimmed a large position (~$700M sale) and some high-profile funds reduced exposure, which can weigh on intraday flows and dampen momentum. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and regulatory risks persist — Klarna expects a Swedish court verdict related to Google patents on April 15, adding event risk for the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: AI capex funded with debt raises investor caution — coverage warns hyperscalers (including Alphabet) are increasing AI-related spending and in some cases using debt, which shifts risk and could pressure valuations if returns take longer than expected. Read More.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $320.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.05. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Moment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,401,000 after buying an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% during the second quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.