Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sells $9,859,850.00 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $9,859,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,028,012.80. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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 value 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 stock was 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 shares were sold at an average price of $299.80, for a total transaction of $9,743,500.00.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded down $2.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $298.30. 17,564,122 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,960,871. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $320.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $285.58. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $350.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.90.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large enterprise/cloud wins and AI demand: Google Cloud deals (CVS health AI platform) and reported TPU leasing by Meta point to higher recurring cloud revenue and infrastructure utilization that support near‑term revenue growth. CVS taps Google Cloud Meta leases Google TPUs
• Positive Sentiment: Solid fundamentals/analyst support: Q4 results and earnings beats reinforce the “quality growth” narrative, and Bank of America’s reiterated Buy/$370 target keeps bull case intact. Q4 quality growth Bank of America maintains $370
• Neutral Sentiment: Anthropic access clarified: Google says Anthropic remains available for non‑defense uses after a DoD blacklist — this reduces near‑term disruption risk to customers but leaves policy uncertainty around defense contracts. Google on Anthropic availability
• Neutral Sentiment: Market narrative shifting: Analysts note GOOG’s strong 12‑month run has moved it from a “value” label to an execution/AI‑growth story — bullish if growth continues, but raises expectations. Forbes valuation piece
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical / physical risk to infrastructure: Reports that hyperscaler data centers are becoming military targets in the Iran war increase operational and security risk for cloud operations and potential outages. Data centers targeted
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal headwinds and fee cuts: The Epic Games settlement (lower Play Store commissions) and a high‑profile Gemini wrongful‑death lawsuit raise revenue/margin and liability concerns for consumer services. Play Store settlement Gemini lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny on Waymo / AV safety and technical/short‑term chart pressure: NTSB/industry scrutiny of autonomous‑vehicle safety plus technical analysts calling a short thesis add to near‑term selling pressure. Waymo NTSB scrutiny Chart short thesis

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 100.0% during the second quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.