Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 2.3% on Insider Selling
by Michael Walen · The Markets DailyAlphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report)’s share price traded down 2.3% on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $296.75 and last traded at $298.79. 33,917,404 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the average session volume of 21,860,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $305.73.
Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the sale, the director owned 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,405,091.71. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $345.71.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Alphabet
Alphabet News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hired Bridgewater’s chief scientist Jasjeet Sekhon — a high‑profile talent win that strengthens Alphabet’s AI research and commercial roadmap, supporting long‑term competitive positioning. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is expanding healthcare AI via the Health100 platform with CVS, using Gemini models — opens a recurring, enterprise revenue channel for cloud/AI services. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: Product momentum: updates to Stitch (Stitch “vibe design”) are pressuring design incumbents (Figma/Adobe), signaling faster AI product monetization and competitive leverage. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: Alphabet signed utility agreements to curb data‑center use during peak demand — reduces operational/power‑price risk as data‑center consumption grows. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory move: Google will let UK sites opt out of generative AI in search — may limit feature rollout locally but could lower legal/antitrust friction. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: Market context: ETFs and indices (VTI/SPY/VOO/QQQ) are down today and are amplifying GOOG’s move as it is a large index holding — broad market weakness can magnify individual stock moves. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Supply‑chain/geopolitical risk: reports say Alphabet is increasing use of Chinese suppliers for advanced liquid cooling for AI data centers — improves capacity but raises export‑control and political risk. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Sundar Pichai and several directors have disclosed recent large share sales — repeated high‑value insider sales can create short‑term investor caution despite planned sale programs. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Valuation and capex concerns: analysts and commentators note heavy hyperscaler AI/data‑center spending and uncertain timing of returns — this macro/industry headwind is pressuring multiples for cloud/AI names, including Alphabet. Read More.
Alphabet Trading Down 2.3%
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 company has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $318.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.42.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.77%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ring Mountain Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC now owns 4,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.
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.