Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was down 1.1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $303.71 and last traded at $305.7210. Approximately 38,194,362 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 37,181,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $309.00.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts/targets lifted — two recent price‑target increases underline bullish analyst views on Alphabet’s growth trajectory and AI positioning. Price Target $375 Price Target $380
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo operational progress — Alphabet’s Waymo is deploying 6th‑gen Ojai robotaxis and expanding driverless rides, supporting long‑term growth optionality outside advertising. Waymo Ojai deployment
• Positive Sentiment: Hyperscaler capex wave — a report highlights ~ $700B of AI capex by hyperscalers in 2026, reinforcing that Alphabet is a primary beneficiary of sustained enterprise AI demand (revenue opportunity). $700B AI CapEx wave
• Neutral Sentiment: Century‑bond demand vs. structural questions — strong demand for Alphabet’s long‑dated bonds signals investor confidence and long‑dated liability matching, but some observers flag the novelty and lack of typical bond protections (mixed credit/PR implications). Bond guardrails story 100‑year bond analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat analysis: pullback may be a buying opportunity — despite an earnings beat and accelerating Cloud/search metrics, the stock is digesting large 2026 CapEx guidance; view framed as potential long‑term entry if support holds. MarketBeat pullback analysis
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probe into search ads — fresh European investigations target Google’s search advertising auction and pricing practices, creating regulatory/legal overhang and potential fines or changes to ad economics in Europe. EU probe Reuters EU probe Bloomberg
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and cash‑flow concerns weigh — post‑earnings commentary and some analyst notes flagged Alphabet’s $175‑$185B 2026 CapEx plan as a driver of near‑term free‑cash‑flow strain and a reason for recent share weakness. Zacks capex note
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech rotation/bear market pressure — coverage noting Magnificent Seven weakness adds macro risk that can amplify Alphabet selloffs even when company fundamentals stay strong. Barron’s market context

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $361.64.

Alphabet Price Performance

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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.62. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,914,730.12. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,067,086 shares of company stock worth $105,184,255. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moment Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9.3% during the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Brooktree Capital Management bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 13.9% during the third quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after buying an additional 7,180 shares during the period. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the second quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.