Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 1.1% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price traded down 1.1% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $309.87 and last traded at $311.49. 31,324,690 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 36,966,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.98.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,818,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $856,605,814.08. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total transaction of $184,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,325,999.52. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $354.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 price objective (up from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.57.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded Alphabet, citing that the company has “three key traits of an AI winner” — an analyst upgrade that supports the AI-led growth narrative and can boost investor confidence. Wells Fargo upgrades Google parent Alphabet, says it has ‘3 key traits of AI winner’
• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital raised its price target on GOOGL to $355 and kept a Buy rating — a notable analyst vote of confidence implying meaningful upside from current levels. Loop Capital adjusts price target on Alphabet to $355
• Positive Sentiment: Product and AI momentum: Google launched Lyria 3 (music-generation) in beta and is getting picked as a top growth stock by some outlets — incremental product wins that reinforce Alphabet’s AI growth story and monetization pathways. Alphabet (GOOGL) Expands AI Reach Amid Market Debate
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry capex backdrop: Bridgewater estimates Big Tech will invest about $650B in AI infrastructure in 2026 — a structural tailwind for Alphabet’s cloud and AI services, though it also heightens competition and capacity risk. Big Tech to invest about $650 billion in AI in 2026, Bridgewater says
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports say Apple may pay to use Alphabet’s Gemini in Siri and Waymo clarified robotaxi remote‑driving practices — potential commercial upside and regulatory clarification, but still subject to confirmation and regulatory scrutiny. Alphabet Sits At Center Of AI And Robotaxi Shifts
• Negative Sentiment: Renaissance sold about $700M in Alphabet dividend stock — a sizable institutional sell that can add near-term selling pressure. Alphabet: Renaissance sells $700 million in dividend stock
• Negative Sentiment: An Alphabet insider sold ~$14.3M of shares — a headline that can weigh on sentiment even if occasional in normal insider activity. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Insider Sells $14,341,182.30 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market worry: coverage notes hyperscalers are funding AI buildouts increasingly with debt, raising questions about capex returns and investor risk tolerance — a sector headwind that can pressure GOOGL alongside peers. How the AI debt binge shattered hyperscalers’ ‘unspoken contract’ with investors

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $320.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.27.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Drake & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. GuidedMoney LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $470,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC now owns 7,795 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Solutions Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $188,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.