Key Points
- Alphabet insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares on Feb. 17 at an average of $301.45 for a total of about $14.34M, cutting his ownership by 78.25% to 13,227 shares (~$3.99M).
- Alphabet beat Q4 expectations with $2.82 EPS vs. $2.59 consensus and revenue of $113.83B (up 18% YoY), supporting analyst upgrades and a bullish consensus on AI monetization.
- Momentum from Gemini adoption, a $15B America‑India Connect initiative and new cloud partnerships has attracted institutional buying and higher price targets, but the stock also faces near‑term risks from insider/institutional selling, a trade‑secrets indictment, and memory‑chip constraints.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.
John Kent Walker also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Tuesday, December 30th, John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81.
Alphabet Price Performance
NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $9.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $313.38. 5,983,626 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,559,145. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $350.15. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $320.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.
Alphabet News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Canaccord Genuity lifted its price target after stronger‑than‑expected Q4 and faster Gemini adoption, signaling analyst confidence that AI monetization will lift revenue and margins. Canaccord raises PT
- Positive Sentiment: Big commercial wins and commitments: Alphabet announced a $15B America‑India Connect AI/fiber initiative and has new partnerships (Zillow integration with NotebookLM, a tie‑up with Sea) that extend Gemini/Cloud into vertical offerings — good for long‑term cloud & AI revenue. America-India Connect
- Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying from notable managers (Appaloosa/Tepper, Altimeter, Viking and others) signals conviction among some large investors that Alphabet is a core AI winner. That buying can support the stock around earnings and execution milestones. Appaloosa boosts stake
- Neutral Sentiment: Gemini consumer demos — e.g., an AI “cricket coach” showcased on CNBC — are positive PR for user engagement but are not immediate revenue drivers; they show product momentum more than financials. CNBC Gemini demo
- Neutral Sentiment: Product cadence: Google launched the $499 Pixel 10a with new AI features — supports consumer distribution of AI but low‑end device upgrades are incremental for overall revenue. Pixel 10a launch
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Alphabet senior exec John Kent Walker disclosed a large sale (~47,574 shares at ~$301.45), which markets often interpret as modestly negative near‑term signal. Insider sale filing
- Negative Sentiment: Multiple funds trimmed Alphabet stakes (including Pershing Square, Longview and others) per recent filings — increased selling from institutions can weigh on intraday liquidity and sentiment. Pershing Square trim
- Negative Sentiment: Security/legal risk: Three engineers were charged with allegedly stealing Google trade secrets and sending data to Iran — a reputational and IP risk that could trigger regulatory scrutiny or operational distractions. Trade-secrets indictment
- Negative Sentiment: Execution risk from supply constraints: Google DeepMind’s CEO warned that a memory‑chip shortage is constraining agentic AI research/deployment — could slow rollout cadence or raise costs in the near term. DeepMind supply comment
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $343.90.
Get Our Latest Analysis on GOOG
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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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