Insider Selling: Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Insider Sells $3,142,911.42 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $3.84 on Wednesday, hitting $361.21. The stock had a trading volume of 26,678,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,969,117. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $369.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $333.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.77 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its position in Alphabet by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 274,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,000,000 after purchasing an additional 23,107 shares in the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $28,902,000. Finally, Private Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,736,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and reports of bullish analyst targets have reinforced the view that the stock remains a large-cap AI and growth leader. Alphabet Replaces Verizon In Dow Jones As Analyst Boosts Target To $415
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Nano Banana 2 Lite, a faster and cheaper image generator, which could strengthen its competitive position in generative AI and support future monetization. Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite
• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Google signing on to OpenUSD suggests Alphabet is expanding its presence in digital payments and emerging commerce infrastructure. Visa and Google Sign on to Use Money Movement Stablecoin OpenUSD
• Positive Sentiment: Several market-watch articles continue to frame Alphabet as a strong long-term AI growth stock with additional upside potential from earnings and valuation support. Will Alphabet (GOOGL) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Neutral Sentiment: A small insider sale by a director was disclosed, but the transaction was modest and does not appear to signal a meaningful change in fundamentals. Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent pullback has also attracted “buy the dip” commentary, with some analysts arguing the stock still has room to run if AI and cloud growth stay on track. Why Alphabet’s pullback may be an opportunity in disguise
• Negative Sentiment: A Swedish court ordered Alphabet to pay PriceRunner/Klarna roughly $1.5 billion to nearly $2 billion in an antitrust case, adding to regulatory overhang tied to Google’s shopping-search practices. Google Must Pay Nearly $2 Billion to Klarna in Antitrust Case
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulators are also targeting Apple and Google app-store fees and payment restrictions, which could pressure Alphabet’s platform economics if rules become stricter. UK targets Apple, Google app store fees for developers
• Negative Sentiment: South Korean regulators alleged Google abused its dominance in Android app distribution, another sign that antitrust risk remains a key investor concern. South Korean trade watchdog alleges Google abused its position in Android app store

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 target price (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.90.

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.