Key Points
- Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 Alphabet shares on Jan. 7 at an average price of $321.21 for $10.44M, reducing his holding to 2,244,372 shares (a 1.43% decrease), worth about $720.9M.
- This transaction is one of several identical 32,500-share sales since Oct. 15, signaling a pattern of ongoing insider selling that has generated millions in proceeds each time.
- Despite the insider sales, Alphabet's fundamentals and catalysts remain supportive — the company recently beat earnings estimates, is benefiting from AI (Gemini) momentum
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at $720,914,730.12. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.
Sundar Pichai also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Monday, December 15th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.80, for a total transaction of $9,743,500.00.
- On Wednesday, December 3rd, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00.
- On Wednesday, November 19th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total value of $9,640,800.00.
- On Wednesday, November 5th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00.
- On Wednesday, October 15th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00.
Alphabet Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $326.01 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $305.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.33. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $330.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.
Alphabet News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets — Canaccord raised its GOOGL target to $390 and kept a Buy rating, adding to other recent bullish targets (Cantor, Citizens, Jefferies) that signal upside and help support buying interest. Canaccord Raises PT to $390
- Positive Sentiment: AI product momentum — Google’s Gemini is reportedly taking share from ChatGPT and Gemini-powered features are rolling into Gmail at scale, improving monetization expectations for search, ads and cloud. That supports earnings upside assumptions embedded in higher targets. Gemini Gains Market Share
- Positive Sentiment: Market-cap milestone — Alphabet briefly surpassed Apple to become the world’s No.2 public company by market value, a sign of investor confidence in Alphabet’s AI/cash-flow story and a potential magnet for index/ETF flows. Alphabet Surpasses Apple
- Positive Sentiment: Regulatory relief in EU digital-rule overhaul — Reports say major U.S. tech firms including Alphabet will avoid the strictest proposed EU digital rules, reducing near-term regulatory overhang. Big Tech Spared Strict EU Rules
- Neutral Sentiment: Wiz acquisition awaiting EU decision by Feb. 10 — The $32B Wiz buy is Alphabet’s largest-ever deal; approval would remove a major integration uncertainty, while a blockage would be a setback. Monitor EU outcome. EU to Decide on Wiz Deal by Feb. 10
- Neutral Sentiment: Waymo product/branding updates — Waymo rebranding of its Zeekr robotaxi is a long-term commercial push for autonomous services; relevant for Waymo valuation but limited near-term EPS impact. Waymo Rebrands Robotaxi
- Negative Sentiment: Legal and reputational risk from AI-related lawsuits — Alphabet and Character.AI settled suits tied to alleged harm to minors (including a teen suicide), highlighting regulatory/legal exposure around chatbots. This raises potential costs and reputational concerns. Google, Character.AI Settle Lawsuits
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and talent losses — CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed a sale of 32,500 shares; separately, Nvidia hired a Google marketing veteran as CMO. Insider sales and high-profile departures can be watched for sentiment/talent implications. SEC Filing: Pichai Share Sale
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank set a $336.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $316.79.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on GOOG
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $73,927,821,000 after buying an additional 5,182,111 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,511,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428,266 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $23,963,208,000 after acquiring an additional 135,064,454 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,022,926,000 after acquiring an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 8.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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