Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 2.2% on Insider Selling

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded down 2.2% during mid-day trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $333.43 and last traded at $335.41. 21,408,394 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 21,014,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $342.88.

Specifically, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total transaction of $27,692.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,414,801.45. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 17th. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on Alphabet from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $415.55.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly preparing to launch Gemini 3.8 Flash, a model designed to improve coding performance and narrow the gap with OpenAI and Anthropic. The expected release is supporting sentiment around Alphabet’s AI strategy and enterprise growth prospects. New Google AI model said to narrow coding gap
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet-owned Waymo expanded paid driverless ride-hailing service to Denver, San Diego and Tampa, bringing operations to 14 U.S. cities. The rollout provides a potential long-term growth avenue beyond advertising and cloud computing. Waymo expands robotaxi services
• Positive Sentiment: Google signed a 396-megawatt geothermal power purchase agreement with Fervo Energy, helping secure 24/7 carbon-free electricity for data-center expansion and AI workloads. Fervo geothermal power deal with Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway made Alphabet its third-largest holding after reducing its Bank of America position. The endorsement may support investor confidence, although commentary also questions whether Alphabet’s strong long-term performance is already reflected in its valuation. Alphabet becomes Berkshire’s third-largest holding
• Negative Sentiment: Investors fear Meta’s AI advertising products and OpenAI’s rapidly expanding ad business could challenge Google Search, Alphabet’s primary profit engine. Competition threatens Google Search advertising
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned AI infrastructure investment—reportedly as high as $205 billion this year—is raising concerns about depreciation, free cash flow and future margins despite strong cloud growth. Big Tech AI capital spending concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Continuing EU antitrust scrutiny, including questions about Google’s AI-search opt-out proposal, adds legal and potential monetization risk. A recent U.K. app-store settlement further highlights regulatory costs. EU regulators question Google AI search opt-out

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

The firm has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $347.23 and a 200 day moving average of $340.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,508 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the first quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.