Frances Arnold Sells 102 Shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $34,680.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,224,380. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Frances Arnold also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 31st, Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90.
• On Monday, December 1st, Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total value of $32,401.32.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ GOOG traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $338.53. The stock had a trading volume of 21,715,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,782,222. The company has a market capitalization of $4.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $342.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $320.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.83.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google’s new Project Genie AI model — which can turn short prompts into fully rendered, playable 3D worlds and characters — is being viewed as a strategic win for Alphabet’s AI leadership and platform reach; the announcement spooked game developers but signals a new product avenue for Google that could expand ads, cloud consumption and developer tools. Videogame stocks slide on Google’s AI model that turns prompts into playable worlds
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note expects Alphabet to beat Q4 revenue and EPS as AI lifts ads and cloud demand — a direct fundamental rationale for upside to near-term earnings and investor estimates. Alphabet Could Power Past Forecasts As AI Lifts Ads, Cloud: Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buying: Vanguard reportedly added material GOOGL exposure in its latest filing, which supports demand for the shares from big passive/active holders. Fund Update: VANGUARD GROUP INC Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Positive Sentiment: Google disrupted a major residential proxy network used by bad actors, a security move that reduces abuse risk across its ecosystem and is a modest reputational/operational positive. Google disrupts large residential proxy network, reducing devices used by operators by ‘millions’
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is focused on Q4 guidance and key metric estimates ahead of earnings; expectations and guidance will likely drive short-term moves more than some headlines. Ahead of Alphabet (GOOGL) Q4 Earnings: Get Ready With Wall Street Estimates for Key Metrics
• Neutral Sentiment: Profile/endorsement notes: coverage pieces and fund letters (e.g., Giverny Capital mention, Tim Cook comments on partnership) keep sentiment visible but are unlikely to move the tape materially on their own. Alphabet (GOOG) Contributed 4.7% to Giverny Capital Asset Management’s 2025 Growth
• Negative Sentiment: A former Google engineer was convicted of stealing AI trade secrets and uploading internal materials to personal cloud accounts — a legal/security headwind that raises concerns about IP protection and could prompt tighter controls and scrutiny. Former Google engineer found guilty of espionage and theft of AI tech
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo involvement in a pedestrian incident has triggered an NHTSA probe; regulatory/safety risks around Waymo’s rollout remain a potential liability and source of short-term volatility for Alphabet. A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school. The NHTSA is investigating

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 121.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.