Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 3.9% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price fell 3.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $373.52 and last traded at $361.5910. 28,302,225 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 25,838,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $376.37.

Specifically, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.04.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s decision to commit $10 billion to Alphabet’s stock sale is a strong vote of confidence in the company’s long-term AI and cloud strategy. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports suggest Alphabet’s AI initiatives are still driving business momentum, with commentary saying early fears that AI would hurt Google’s core business have not materialized. Google: AI Skeptics Proven Wrong as Business Booms
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s ownership stakes in private companies like SpaceX and Anthropic could add future upside if those companies go public, but this is not the main driver of today’s trading. Alphabet Stock Offers Exposure To SpaceX, Anthropic Before IPOs: What That Means For Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s push into AI coding tools, hardware, and consumer devices underscores its competitive ambitions, but the market appears focused more on financing than product strategy today. Microsoft and Google are late to AI coding, but ‘absolutely critical’ they compete for growth
• Negative Sentiment: The $80 billion capital raise is sparking dilution concerns and signaling a much larger AI spending commitment, which is weighing on the stock. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports that EU cloud rules could restrict Google’s access to strategic government tenders add a regulatory overhang for its cloud business. Exclusive: EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders, draft document shows

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $347.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $325.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.6% during the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.2% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.9% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.