Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 2.2% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price fell 2.2% during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $333.43 and last traded at $335.41. Approximately 21,408,394 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average session volume of 21,014,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $342.88.

Specifically, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total transaction of $27,692.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,414,801.45. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. KeyCorp set a $445.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly preparing to launch Gemini 3.8 Flash, a model designed to improve coding performance and narrow the gap with OpenAI and Anthropic. The expected release is supporting sentiment around Alphabet’s AI strategy and enterprise growth prospects. New Google AI model said to narrow coding gap
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet-owned Waymo expanded paid driverless ride-hailing service to Denver, San Diego and Tampa, bringing operations to 14 U.S. cities. The rollout provides a potential long-term growth avenue beyond advertising and cloud computing. Waymo expands robotaxi services
• Positive Sentiment: Google signed a 396-megawatt geothermal power purchase agreement with Fervo Energy, helping secure 24/7 carbon-free electricity for data-center expansion and AI workloads. Fervo geothermal power deal with Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway made Alphabet its third-largest holding after reducing its Bank of America position. The endorsement may support investor confidence, although commentary also questions whether Alphabet’s strong long-term performance is already reflected in its valuation. Alphabet becomes Berkshire’s third-largest holding
• Negative Sentiment: Investors fear Meta’s AI advertising products and OpenAI’s rapidly expanding ad business could challenge Google Search, Alphabet’s primary profit engine. Competition threatens Google Search advertising
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned AI infrastructure investment—reportedly as high as $205 billion this year—is raising concerns about depreciation, free cash flow and future margins despite strong cloud growth. Big Tech AI capital spending concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Continuing EU antitrust scrutiny, including questions about Google’s AI-search opt-out proposal, adds legal and potential monetization risk. A recent U.K. app-store settlement further highlights regulatory costs. EU regulators question Google AI search opt-out

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

The firm has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $347.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.34.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 275,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 298.2% during the 2nd quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,854,000 after buying an additional 16,647 shares during the last quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $106,936,000 after buying an additional 3,378 shares during the period. Montchanin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $7,075,000. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 13.3% in the second quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,489 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,773,000 after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Alphabet

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.