Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 2.5% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price fell 2.5% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $319.92 and last traded at $322.86. 55,697,475 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the average session volume of 35,905,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $331.25.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total value of $10,893,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,179,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,481,906.96. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.55, for a total transaction of $314,001.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,916 shares in the company, valued at $3,337,229.80. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Daiwa Securities Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Argus increased their price objective on Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.46.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q4 estimates with $113.8B revenue, $2.82 EPS, huge Google Cloud growth (48% y/y) and milestone annual revenue above $400B — evidence that AI and ads are driving durable top‑line momentum. Alphabet Crushes Earnings Again, Reports 48% Cloud Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini/product adoption and a surging cloud backlog (reported at ~$240B) support longer‑term revenue leverage from AI investments — a structural growth argument investors and many analysts are citing. Google goes from laggard to leader as it pulls ahead of OpenAI with stellar AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokers raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views after the quarter (e.g., Citigroup, JPMorgan, RBC, Needham, Mizuho), providing analyst support under the share price. Multiple analyst price target raises (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data shows no meaningful short position change (reads as negligible/quiet on short‑selling activity), so moves are likely driven by flows and sentiment rather than a short squeeze.
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF/sector flows and inclusion chatter (new Big Tech ETFs) can amplify moves in GOOGL but are not company‑specific catalysts. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet guided to $175–$185B of capex for 2026 (aimed at AI compute and cloud), a shockingly large jump that has investors fretting about near‑term free cash flow and returns on incremental AI spend — the dominant proximate cause of recent weakness. Alphabet resets the bar for AI infrastructure spending (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market narrative: fears about excessive AI capex are prompting a tech sell‑off (FactSet noted >$1T wiped from big‑tech), which weighs on Alphabet alongside company‑specific capex concerns. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported after the quarter, adding near‑term pressure on sentiment. Alphabet Shares Down After Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Employee protests over Google Cloud contracts with immigration agencies pose reputational/legal risk that can create headline volatility. Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly 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 $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 100 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.