Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai Sells 32,500 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total transaction of $9,859,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at $508,028,012.80. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Sundar Pichai also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 18th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total value of $9,877,400.00.
• On Wednesday, February 4th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total transaction of $10,893,350.00.
• On Wednesday, January 21st, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total transaction of $10,637,250.00.
• On Wednesday, January 7th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total value of $10,439,325.00.
• On Monday, December 15th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.80, for a total transaction of $9,743,500.00.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $2.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $298.80. 25,537,822 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,175,926. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $349.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during 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, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 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 payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Arete Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.18.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large cloud commercial win — CVS will deploy an AI‑enabled health platform on Google Cloud, validating enterprise demand for recurring cloud/AI revenue and supporting the Google Cloud/Gemini growth story. CVS taps Google Cloud
• Positive Sentiment: AI partnership continuity — Google said Anthropic will remain available for non‑defense projects after DoD actions, limiting disruption to Alphabet’s access to Anthropic models and enterprise AI offerings. Google says Anthropic remains available
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional support — Robert W. Baird lifted its price target to $380 and other firms have boosted targets/ratings recently, reinforcing buy narratives and upside vs. the current price. Baird raises price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Small insider sales — filings show modest sales by a director and the CAO; routine disclosures that markets note but are not large enough to signal strategic conviction changes. SEC filing — insider sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary on recent pullback — coverage (e.g., Zacks) highlights the stock’s slide since earnings and asks whether it can rebound, offering investor viewpoints but no new company fundamentals. Zacks — can it rebound?
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/PR overhang: a wrongful‑death lawsuit alleges harmful guidance from the Gemini chatbot, raising potential liability, regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk for Alphabet’s core AI investment thesis. Gemini wrongful‑death lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Autonomous‑vehicle scrutiny — the NHTSA/NHTSA‑led safety forum and ongoing probes into Waymo incidents increase regulatory risk and operational uncertainty for the self‑driving unit. NHTSA self‑driving safety forum
• Negative Sentiment: App store revenue pressure — a settlement with Epic lowered Play Store commission rates (to ~20% + up to 5%), which could modestly reduce Play‑ecosystem take rates and near‑term revenue. Play Store commission cut
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical pressure — recent tensions and tech pullbacks in affected markets (e.g., Dubai exposure) are weighing on large‑cap tech multiples, contributing to negative sentiment around GOOGL. Tech offices respond to U.S.-Iran tensions

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.