Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 1.2% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $296.25 and last traded at $302.02. 38,880,851 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 37,241,273 shares. The stock had previously closed at $305.72.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total transaction of $184,038.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,999.52. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America increased their price target on Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $348.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.86.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google and Apple are adding music-focused generative-AI features to core apps, showing Alphabet’s AI tech is moving into mainstream consumer experiences that can drive engagement and ad/licensing opportunities. Google Gemini, Apple add music-focused generative AI features
• Positive Sentiment: Google will develop AI tools with Sea Ltd for e-commerce and gaming in Southeast Asia — a tie-up that expands Google Cloud and AI reach in high-growth markets, boosting potential cloud revenue. Google, Shopee-owner Sea to develop AI tools for e-commerce, gaming
• Positive Sentiment: Industry mega-deals like the NVIDIA–Meta expansion reinforce massive, multiyear demand for AI compute — a tailwind for Google Cloud (inference/deployment demand) as hyperscalers lock in infrastructure spending. NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance
• Positive Sentiment: Big investors remain supportive: Berkshire Hathaway kept its Alphabet stake in recent filings and other high-profile investors (e.g., David Tepper) have increased exposure — signals of institutional confidence in Alphabet’s cloud/AI strategy. Berkshire & AI Hyperscalers: Buffett Holds GOOGL, Dumps AMZN
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking Holdings’ stock-split/earnings story spotlights Google’s Travel/AI booking capabilities — the piece underscores competitive dynamics (Google can disintermediate travel booking) but it’s more relevant as industry context than an immediate revenue swing for Alphabet. Booking Holdings Split: The Catalyst Wall Street Didn’t See Coming
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director John Hennessy sold 600 shares (filed in mid-February) — a small but visible insider sale that can amplify short-term selling narratives. Alphabet Director John Hennessy Sells 600 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo/regulatory and operational noise: New York regulatory shifts and scrutiny around remote-assistance in robotaxis constrain Waymo’s expansion and keep a regulatory overhang on Alphabet’s AV ambitions. New York Gov. Hochul drops robotaxi service proposal for outside NYC
• Negative Sentiment: Service reliability and cost concerns: A YouTube outage and commentary about Alphabet’s heavy CapEx for AI compute contribute to short-term profit-taking and worries about near-term margins. YouTube outage hits over 32,000 users

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $320.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. 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.