Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.9% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded down 1.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $302.41 and last traded at $307.15. 22,019,300 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 22,991,568 shares. The stock had previously closed at $313.03.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results and Google Cloud strength—Alphabet beat Q4 revenue and EPS estimates and reported ~48% Google Cloud growth, reinforcing the company’s AI-driven revenue runway; this underpins longer‑term upside for search, YouTube and Cloud. Q4 earnings & discussion
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum — Google rolled out Nano Banana 2, a faster, more accurate image‑generation model, expanding Gemini/Search integrations and user engagement across Google AI tools. This strengthens product differentiation and monetization paths. Nano Banana 2 launch
• Positive Sentiment: Asset and ecosystem optionality — Alphabet’s stakes in private AI and space assets (e.g., Anthropic, SpaceX) plus Gemini’s distribution on billions of devices add non‑core upside and deepen its AI moat. These holdings amplify both revenue and strategic optionality. MarketBeat analysis of hidden assets
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate moves and regional tests — Waymo expansion (Chicago/Charlotte) and folding Intrinsic into Google show commercialization progress but are multi‑year value drivers rather than immediate earnings levers. Waymo testing plans
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy 2026 capex guidance — management signaled far higher 2026 capital expenditures (reported widely at ~$175–185B), sparking investor concern that rapid AI infrastructure buildout will pressure near‑term margins and free cash flow. That guidance is the primary driver of today’s downward momentum. Capex guidance & market reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Hidden AI costs and lease obligations — a Moody’s‑cited report highlights large off‑balance‑sheet data‑center lease commitments among hyperscalers, flagging potential long‑term capital/lease burdens for Alphabet as it scales AI infrastructure. Report on off‑balance leases
• Negative Sentiment: Investor moves — some hedge fund/insider selling reports and a recent stake cut by MIG Capital add marginal selling pressure amid the broader capex concern. MIG Capital stake cut

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.87.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock valued at $119,145,289. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Tradewinds LLC. increased its position in Alphabet by 2,134.8% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 45,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,984,000 after buying an additional 43,080 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 354,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,345,000 after acquiring an additional 84,553 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 157,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,272,000 after acquiring an additional 3,444 shares during the period. American National Bank of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $900,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $206,542,000 after acquiring an additional 42,028 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.