Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) dropped 1% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $296.90 and last traded at $302.82. Approximately 23,667,041 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 0% from the average daily volume of 23,745,439 shares. The stock had previously closed at $306.02.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total value of $184,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,999.52. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.90.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Big AI partnerships and product wins reinforce growth thesis — Google announced partnerships to build AI tools with Sea Ltd and is rolling music‑focused generative AI (Gemini) into consumer apps, underlining continued enterprise and consumer AI monetization opportunities. Google, Shopee-owner Sea to develop AI tools Google Gemini, Apple add music-focused generative AI features
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic infrastructure and international AI push — Alphabet unveiled the America‑India Connect initiative and committed substantial funding to an AI hub, supporting long‑term cloud and data‑center demand for Google Cloud. Alphabet Unveils America-India Connect
• Positive Sentiment: Street bullishness on AI growth — Analysts and newsletters have issued upgrades and higher targets (including a Seeking Alpha/TipRanks bullish take and DZ Bank strong‑buy), which supports upside expectations for ad, cloud and Gemini monetization. Gemini and Google Cloud analysis TipRanks price-target note
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/partner news with limited near‑term revenue impact — Google launched the $499 Pixel 10a and a Google Cloud partner (Alludium) gained Select status; useful for ecosystem depth but unlikely to move near‑term earnings materially. Google debuts $499 Pixel 10a Alludium Google Cloud Select partner
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/headline risk for Waymo — New York dropped a robotaxi expansion plan outside NYC, and Waymo faces scrutiny over remote assistance practices; any regulatory constraints or reputational hits could slow Waymo commercialization and raise costs. NY drops robotaxi proposal
• Negative Sentiment: Capital‑structure and capex concerns — Coverage flagged Alphabet’s issuance of an unusually long‑dated financing (100‑year bond) and the company’s very large AI/data‑center CapEx outlook; investors worry near‑term margins and free cash flow could be pressured even if the long‑term moat strengthens. 100-year bond analysis CapEx discussion
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional trimming & insider selling — Several funds trimmed positions in 13F filings and a director sold a small block; combined with profit‑taking after the strong run, this adds selling pressure despite longer‑term buyers. Director sale filing

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $320.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.09. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $31,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.