Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 2.3% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price fell 2.3% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $296.75 and last traded at $298.79. 33,917,404 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 55% from the average session volume of 21,860,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $305.73.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $345.71.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hires Bridgewater’s chief scientist Jasjeet Sekhon — a high‑profile talent win that strengthens Alphabet’s AI research and commercial credentials versus rivals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud + CVS launch “Health100” using Gemini models — expands Gemini into consumer healthcare (pharmacy, insurance, wearables) and creates a potential recurring revenue stream for cloud/AI services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum: Stitch “vibe design” update is drawing real competition away from incumbents (Figma/Adobe) — suggests faster AI‑driven product monetization and market expansion for developer/designer tools. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Google struck agreements with five U.S. utilities to curb data‑center power use at peak demand — reduces brownout/cost risk for data‑center expansion and supports more predictable AI operations. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is pursuing Pentagon contracts (coverage and video reports) — potential contract upside but comes with employee/PR controversy given industry disputes; outcome is uncertain for near‑term revenue. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Supply‑chain/geopolitical risk: reports that Alphabet is increasing use of Chinese suppliers for advanced liquid cooling raise export‑control and political risks for global AI builds. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Sundar Pichai and several directors have disclosed recent SEC‑filed share sales — repeated large insider sales can spook short‑term sentiment even if they are scheduled or for diversification. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader valuation/capex concern: commentary on massive hyperscaler AI capex and uncertain timing of returns is pressuring multiples across cloud/AI names, including Alphabet. Read More.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.3%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $317.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.01. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2,134.8% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 45,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,984,000 after buying an additional 43,080 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 354,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,345,000 after acquiring an additional 84,553 shares during the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 221,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,009 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 157,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,272,000 after acquiring an additional 3,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank of Texas bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $900,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.