Frances Arnold Sells 102 Shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $34,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,224,380. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Frances Arnold also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 31st, Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total transaction of $31,971.90.
• On Monday, December 1st, Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total transaction of $32,401.32.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $338.53 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $320.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $342.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google’s new Project Genie AI model — which can turn short prompts into fully rendered, playable 3D worlds and characters — is being viewed as a strategic win for Alphabet’s AI leadership and platform reach; the announcement spooked game developers but signals a new product avenue for Google that could expand ads, cloud consumption and developer tools. Videogame stocks slide on Google’s AI model that turns prompts into playable worlds
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note expects Alphabet to beat Q4 revenue and EPS as AI lifts ads and cloud demand — a direct fundamental rationale for upside to near-term earnings and investor estimates. Alphabet Could Power Past Forecasts As AI Lifts Ads, Cloud: Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buying: Vanguard reportedly added material GOOGL exposure in its latest filing, which supports demand for the shares from big passive/active holders. Fund Update: VANGUARD GROUP INC Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Positive Sentiment: Google disrupted a major residential proxy network used by bad actors, a security move that reduces abuse risk across its ecosystem and is a modest reputational/operational positive. Google disrupts large residential proxy network, reducing devices used by operators by ‘millions’
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is focused on Q4 guidance and key metric estimates ahead of earnings; expectations and guidance will likely drive short-term moves more than some headlines. Ahead of Alphabet (GOOGL) Q4 Earnings: Get Ready With Wall Street Estimates for Key Metrics
• Neutral Sentiment: Profile/endorsement notes: coverage pieces and fund letters (e.g., Giverny Capital mention, Tim Cook comments on partnership) keep sentiment visible but are unlikely to move the tape materially on their own. Alphabet (GOOG) Contributed 4.7% to Giverny Capital Asset Management’s 2025 Growth
• Negative Sentiment: A former Google engineer was convicted of stealing AI trade secrets and uploading internal materials to personal cloud accounts — a legal/security headwind that raises concerns about IP protection and could prompt tighter controls and scrutiny. Former Google engineer found guilty of espionage and theft of AI tech
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo involvement in a pedestrian incident has triggered an NHTSA probe; regulatory/safety risks around Waymo’s rollout remain a potential liability and source of short-term volatility for Alphabet. A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school. The NHTSA is investigating

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,511,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428,266 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,022,926,000 after purchasing an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,749,864,000 after buying an additional 2,209,203 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.83.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.