Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were down 2.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $309.66 and last traded at $310.96. Approximately 45,038,127 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 23% from the average daily volume of 36,752,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $318.58.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: EU clears Google’s $32B acquisition of Wiz, removing a major regulatory hurdle and accelerating Alphabet’s expansion in cloud security—this supports strategic growth and potential revenue synergies from Google Cloud. EU approves Wiz deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are raising targets and reiterating buy ratings (examples: Arete, New Street, President Capital, Daiwa), signaling increased sell‑side optimism about growth and AI opportunity—this can underpin upside in the stock if execution continues. Arete raises PT
• Positive Sentiment: Google is testing new shopping ad formats inside Search AI and Gemini, creating an additional monetization channel for AI-driven answers—potential to boost ad revenue per query if rollout scales. Google shopping in Search/Gemini
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet has tapped debt markets heavily—initial reports showed ~$20B in bond sales and later increases above $30B, including very long-dated (100‑year) maturities—to fund AI infrastructure. This funds growth but raises leverage and creates mixed investor reactions about capital allocation. Alphabet bond sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is backing robotics and AI ecosystem companies (e.g., Apptronik raised $520M with Google participation), showing strategic ecosystem investments that could accelerate AI product commercialization but are longer‑term plays. Apptronik funding
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy/legal risk: reporting says Google handed personal and financial information about a student journalist to ICE without a judge-approved subpoena—this raises reputational and regulatory risk that could draw scrutiny or enforcement. Google and ICE data
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/industry pushback continues: the European Publishers Council filed an antitrust complaint about Google’s AI Overviews, and social/legal scrutiny (e.g., courtroom testimony about platform harms) adds to regulatory uncertainty that can pressure multiples. Publishers Council complaint
• Negative Sentiment: High-profile criticism about Alphabet’s long-term funding choices (e.g., commentary on 100‑year bonds and alarm from some investors) introduces sentiment risk and may amplify volatility despite strategic rationale. Investor criticism on 100-year bonds

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. President Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $323.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, New Street Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $361.64.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.4%

The company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $321.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.11. 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 results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,884.14. This trade represents a 19.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,067,686 shares of company stock worth $105,352,291 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 49,889 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,792,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308 shares during the period. Marietta Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 89.0% during the second quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 171,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,216,000 after acquiring an additional 80,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IVC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.