Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price dropped 2.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $360.23 and last traded at $362.10. Approximately 15,686,741 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 21,147,025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.10.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are encouraged by reports that Google Cloud is gaining ground on AWS and Azure, with faster growth, improving margins, and a very large backlog that points to continued AI-driven demand. Alphabet: Google Cloud Is Outperforming Azure And AWS; $462 Billion Backlog Requires More AI Investments
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly increased its Alphabet stake substantially, which is being read as a strong endorsement from a major long-term investor. Berkshire Hathaway Expands Alphabet (GOOGL) Stake to 58M Shares as Ackman Exits
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is also being viewed favorably for aggressive AI and infrastructure spending, including a major Alabama data center expansion and broader capex plans that could support future growth. Alphabet (GOOGL) Announces $1.5 Billion Investment Across 2026 And 2027 To Expand Its Alabama Data Center Campus
• Neutral Sentiment: New product efforts, such as Gemini-powered home devices and AI control tools, show Alphabet is expanding its AI ecosystem, but these moves are not immediate earnings drivers. Google bets on Gemini to reinvent the smart home speaker
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo’s premium subscription trial could help monetize its robotaxi business over time, though investors are still waiting for clearer commercialization progress. Alphabet (GOOGL) Trials Premium Subscription for Waymo Robotaxi Service
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo recalled nearly 3,900 robotaxis after a software issue caused some vehicles to enter freeway construction zones, raising safety and execution concerns for Alphabet’s autonomous-driving push. Waymo to recall over 3,800 robotaxis over risk of entering closed construction zones, NHTSA says
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment was also pressured by news that Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer is leaving Google for OpenAI, reinforcing concerns about competition for AI talent. Google’s Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer to join OpenAI

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.78.

Alphabet Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $363.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $330.81.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,712,878,000 after purchasing an additional 953,790 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,569,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,151 shares during the period. 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.