Insider Selling: Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director Sells $202,512.00 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director John Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total transaction of $202,512.00. Following the sale, the director owned 21,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,163,524.48. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $330.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $341.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $312.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 13,812 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.1% in the second quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,641 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 17.9% in the second quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 6,924 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.4% in the second quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major commercial validation — Apple’s decision to use Google’s Gemini to power the next-generation Siri is being treated as a high-margin licensing win and a distribution multiplier for Gemini; MarketBeat highlights this deal as a key catalyst behind Alphabet clearing a $4 trillion market cap. Alphabet Tops $4 Trillion Valuation as AI Momentum Runs HotMarketBeat: Alphabet Tops $4 Trillion Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum — DeepMind and Google product teams are working closely (DeepMind CEO says daily dialogue with Google CEO) as Gemini and other AI features (e.g., Personal Intelligence) accelerate integration across Google apps — supports revenue/monetization pathways. DeepMind CEO is talking to Google CEO ‘every day’ as lab ramps up competition with OpenAICNBC: DeepMind/Google collaboration
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and market momentum — Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets (Goldman, BofA, Wells Fargo, Cantor, Jefferies) plus bullish media commentary (including Jim Cramer) are supporting investor sentiment and inflows. Is Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) The Most Profitable US Stock to Buy?InsiderMonkey: analyst coverage & targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Commercial pilots & partnerships — Google will power agentic AI for Woolworths’ Olive chatbot in Australia later this year, a useful commercial test but limited near-term revenue impact. Do Woolworths shoppers want Google AI adding items to buy? We’ll soon find outTechXplore: Woolworths pilot
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwinds — Large forecasts for AI spending boost the long-term thesis for hyperscalers, but they also imply higher capex and competitive intensity across cloud and GPU suppliers. NVDA, GOOGL, META: AI Spending Forecast to Hit $2.53 Trillion This YearTipRanks: AI spending forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk — Google asked a U.S. judge to pause an order forcing it to share data with rivals while it appeals an antitrust ruling; litigation outcomes could materially affect search economics and competitive positioning. Google asks US judge to defer order forcing it to share data while it appealsReuters: appeal to defer data-sharing order
• Negative Sentiment: AI training litigation — Major publishers are seeking to join a class-action suit alleging Google used copyrighted works to train AI models; potential damages, injunctions or limits on training data could raise costs and slow model development. Publishers seek to join lawsuit against Google over AI trainingReuters: publishers move to join lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling & operational constraints — Reports show heavy insider sales (including large Sundar Pichai stock disposals) and Alphabet warns U.S. electrical transmission bottlenecks are slowing data‑centre hookups, which could constrain capacity growth for cloud/AI workloads. Insider selling and lobbying disclosureQuiverQuant: insider sales / lobbying • Google says US transmission system is biggest challenge for connecting data centersReuters: data-center transmission constraints

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.