John Kent Walker Sells 17,829 Shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $314.54. The company had a trading volume of 10,809,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,577,662. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $328.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $298.73 and its 200-day moving average is $242.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued 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 of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triumph Capital Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 1,947 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 137,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,424,000 after purchasing an additional 26,450 shares in the last quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 1,472 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 33,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,040,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP raised its stake in Alphabet by 22.0% in the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 14,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,507,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3/Q4 earnings and company results flagged resiliency and upside vs. expectations — analysts point to strong ad and cloud performance that underpin near‑term earnings. Alphabet (GOOG) Reported Strong Results Despite AI Disruption
• Positive Sentiment: Google Gemini adoption is surging (massive YoY growth and market‑share gains vs. ChatGPT), a direct revenue/engagement tailwind for Search, YouTube and Cloud monetization. Google Gemini & YouTube: GOOGL Digital Fortresses to Fend Off ChatGPT
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud momentum and AI infrastructure (including custom chips) are driving >30% cloud growth and improving unit economics versus peers — supports longer‑term margin expansion. Ranking the Best “Magnificent Seven” Stocks to Buy for 2026. Here’s My No.
• Positive Sentiment: Street sentiment is warming: heavy analyst upgrades and bullish price targets (MarketBeat/TipRanks highlight double‑digit upside and a consensus lift in coverage). The 5 Most Upgraded Stocks from 2025: Double-Digit Upside in 2026 (Alphabet coverage)
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate development win — SandboxAQ (Alphabet spin‑off) landed a major Bahrain cyber contract, showing diversification into government/security revenue streams. Alphabet (GOOGL) Spin Off SandboxAQ Wins Major Government Cyber Deal in Bahrain
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary notes Alphabet’s re‑rating into an AI growth multiple — supports higher targets but raises valuation sensitivity to AI execution and capex. Alphabet Isn’t a Search and Ad Company Anymore. Now It’s Valued Like an AI Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: reports indicate a DOJ probe tied to company DEI policies — an added political/regulatory overhang that could amplify volatility or lead to enforcement headlines. Trump’s Justice Department probes Google, Verizon over DEI policies, citing fraud law: report

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $313.04.

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.