Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 56,150,436 shares, an increase of 34.8% from the November 30th total of 41,660,640 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 22,468,802 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 22,468,802 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 210,987 shares of company stock worth $59,551,040 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 580,897.4% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,963,208,000 after acquiring an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $4,298,572,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,927,821,000 after buying an additional 5,182,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 73.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,808,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,388,775,000 after buying an additional 4,154,929 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3/Q4 earnings and company results flagged resiliency and upside vs. expectations — analysts point to strong ad and cloud performance that underpin near‑term earnings. Alphabet (GOOG) Reported Strong Results Despite AI Disruption
• Positive Sentiment: Google Gemini adoption is surging (massive YoY growth and market‑share gains vs. ChatGPT), a direct revenue/engagement tailwind for Search, YouTube and Cloud monetization. Google Gemini & YouTube: GOOGL Digital Fortresses to Fend Off ChatGPT
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud momentum and AI infrastructure (including custom chips) are driving >30% cloud growth and improving unit economics versus peers — supports longer‑term margin expansion. Ranking the Best “Magnificent Seven” Stocks to Buy for 2026. Here’s My No.
• Positive Sentiment: Street sentiment is warming: heavy analyst upgrades and bullish price targets (MarketBeat/TipRanks highlight double‑digit upside and a consensus lift in coverage). The 5 Most Upgraded Stocks from 2025: Double-Digit Upside in 2026 (Alphabet coverage)
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate development win — SandboxAQ (Alphabet spin‑off) landed a major Bahrain cyber contract, showing diversification into government/security revenue streams. Alphabet (GOOGL) Spin Off SandboxAQ Wins Major Government Cyber Deal in Bahrain
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary notes Alphabet’s re‑rating into an AI growth multiple — supports higher targets but raises valuation sensitivity to AI execution and capex. Alphabet Isn’t a Search and Ad Company Anymore. Now It’s Valued Like an AI Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: reports indicate a DOJ probe tied to company DEI policies — an added political/regulatory overhang that could amplify volatility or lead to enforcement headlines. Trump’s Justice Department probes Google, Verizon over DEI policies, citing fraud law: report

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $314.54. The company had a trading volume of 10,809,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,577,662. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $328.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.04.

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.