Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 2.3% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was down 2.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $310.13 and last traded at $311.3150. Approximately 23,870,625 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 23,710,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $318.63.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank kept an Outperform on Alphabet and raised its price target to $400, signaling continued analyst conviction and upward price-target momentum. Scotiabank Maintains its Outperform Rating on Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
• Positive Sentiment: Google is testing new AI shopping integrations in Search and Gemini that monetize conversational AI via ad/product placements — a clear pathway to lift ad/commerce revenue over time. Google Weaves New Shopping Feature Into Search and Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: The EU gave unconditional antitrust approval to Alphabet’s $32B Wiz acquisition, removing a major regulatory overhang and preserving the deal’s strategic value for Google Cloud security. Google secures EU antitrust approval for $32 billion Wiz acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Some funds added meaningful GOOG exposure (eg, Egerton Capital opened a ~$338.5M position and other managers increased stakes), which can support shares over the medium term. Fund Update: Egerton Capital (UK) LLP Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reports in today’s feeds show effectively zero reported days‑to‑cover figures (likely a reporting artifact), so short‑interest data isn’t adding meaningful directional signal right now.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s very large debt raise — initially reported as a $20B offering and later increased above $30B, including a rare 100‑year, 6.125% tranche — spooked some investors who view the scale and maturity as a sign of elevated capex needs and balance‑sheet risk; coverage of the sale is cited as the main reason for the intraday weakness. Alphabet sells bonds worth $20 billion to fund AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy/legal headlines and regulatory friction persist: a report that Google provided a student journalist’s personal/financial data to ICE and an EU publishers’ antitrust complaint about AI Overviews underscore ongoing legal and reputational risks. Google sent personal and financial information of student journalist to ICE European Publishers Council files EU antitrust complaint about Google’s AI
• Negative Sentiment: Some institutional sellers and fund trims (several portfolio updates show decreases) add short‑term selling pressure amid the broader sell‑off narrative. Fund Update: FRANKLIN RESOURCES INC Just Disclosed New Holdings

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 target price (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.47.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $322.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. This represents a 23.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,070,464 shares of company stock valued at $106,153,077 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Fairman Group LLC raised 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.