Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 3.1% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price was down 3.1% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $297.45 and last traded at $298.06. Approximately 27,364,220 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 15% from the average daily volume of 23,828,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $307.73.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $184,914.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,872.04. This represents a 13.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.80, for a total transaction of $9,743,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,239,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $671,437,776.20. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,798,832.60. This trade represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Loop Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.04.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud scored a very large security‑services expansion with Palo Alto Networks that sources say is “approaching $10 billion,” a material commercial win that should lift cloud revenue and backlog expectations. Google Cloud lands deal with Palo Alto Networks
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage momentum: Wedbush and other analysts have recently raised targets/ratings (new Wedbush $350 target) — analyst upgrades and higher price targets are supporting buyer interest. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $350 Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Talent win for AI: Coverage reports ~20% of Google’s 2025 AI software-engineer hires were “boomerang” ex‑employees — a sign management is successfully rehiring experienced AI staff amid intense competition, which supports execution on Gemini, cloud AI products and new hardware/software initiatives. Google’s boomerang year: 20% of AI software engineers hired in 2025 were ex-employees
• Neutral Sentiment: Social/market chatter highlights AI product strength (Gemini updates) and Waymo funding talk — these narratives can lift sentiment but carry execution and valuation risk if monetization timelines slip. Opinions on AI Innovations and Waymo Funding
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/trading signals: Power‑inflow/order‑flow alerts and recent intraday momentum have drawn short‑term traders into GOOG, amplifying moves on news. GOOG Hits Intraday High After Key Trading Signal
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal headwinds: Mexico’s antitrust authority ordered Google to drop certain Android restrictions, and a Spanish consumer group has opened preliminary legal action over alleged data collection — these actions raise compliance, litigation and product‑bundling risk in key markets. Mexico’s antitrust commission resolves Android competition case Spanish consumer group seeks to sue Google in data row
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Multiple filings show director/exec stock sales (including CEO sales disclosed) — routine for tax/planning but some investors view concentrated insider sales negatively in the short term. Alphabet insider buying and selling

Alphabet Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $289.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.