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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were down 1.1% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $309.87 and last traded at $311.49. Approximately 31,324,690 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 36,966,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.98.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $856,605,814.08. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total transaction of $184,038.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,325,999.52. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Mizuho raised their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.57.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital raised its price target on Alphabet to $355 and kept a “buy” rating, giving the stock fresh analyst support and a visible upside target that can help underpin gains. Loop Capital Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Bridgewater’s analysis says Big Tech (including Alphabet) will invest roughly $650 billion in AI infrastructure in 2026 — a tailwind for Google’s cloud, data-center demand, and AI monetization opportunities over the medium term. Big Tech to invest about $650 billion in AI in 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts are projecting >20% upside for Alphabet based on AI-led growth and cloud momentum, though those forecasts coexist with investor caution around heavy AI spending. Today’s weakness partly reflects that reassessment. Why analysts see Alphabet stock surging over 20% ahead
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces highlight what’s fueling the recent rally (strong revenue, margin expansion from AI and Cloud) and note the stock still trades below its 52-week high — framing both momentum and remaining upside. What’s Really Fueling The Google Stock Rally? How To Buy Google Stock At A 30% Discount?
• Neutral Sentiment: Google spinout Aalyria raised $100M at a $1.3B valuation — a positive signal for Alphabet’s innovation ecosystem and potential non-GAAP upside from portfolio companies, but it’s not a material driver of core revenue. Google spinout Aalyria valued at $1.3 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage warns hyperscalers (including Alphabet) are increasingly funding AI buildouts with debt, raising investor concerns about capital allocation and long-term returns — a headline risk that can pressure multiples even if growth remains strong. How the AI debt binge shattered hyperscalers’ ‘unspoken contract’ with investors
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider and institutional moves: a reported insider sale (~$14.3M) and reductions by some value investors suggest selective profit-taking and rotation out of mega-cap tech, which can amplify short-term weakness. Alphabet insider sells $14.34M Seth Klarman sold Alphabet stake

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $320.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $279.46.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Moment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Brooktree Capital Management bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 13.9% in the third quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% in the third quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,401,000 after buying an additional 4,241 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.