Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director Sells $31,971.90 in Stock

January 1, 2026 by InsiderTrades.com

Key Points

Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares on December 31 at an average price of $313.45 for a total of $31,971.90, leaving her with 18,205 shares (a ~0.56% reduction in her stake).
Alphabet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results (EPS $2.87 vs. $2.29 est.; revenue $102.35B vs. $99.90B) and is riding AI momentum, prompting several analyst upgrades and a consensus "Moderate Buy" average target of about $317.76.
Insider selling (including larger disclosed sales) could create short-term selling pressure, while analysts also flag that heavy AI-related capex may weigh on near-term free cash flow and margins.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

On Monday, December 1st, Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total transaction of $32,401.32.
On Thursday, October 30th, Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total transaction of $32,681.60.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $313.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $299.23 and a 200 day moving average of $242.06. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $328.83.

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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $375.00 price target (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. China Renaissance lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $207.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.76.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Alphabet

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. RIA Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. Finivi Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Finivi Inc. now owns 3,276 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in Alphabet by 41.4% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 259,966 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $63,198,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 5,873 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,428,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP raised its position in Alphabet by 110.7% in the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 97,678 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $23,702,000 after purchasing an additional 51,319 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Positive Sentiment: AI momentum & strong 2025 performance: Coverage highlights that Alphabet’s AI product launches (Gemini, model upgrades) and ad/cloud monetization helped drive a banner 2025 (shares up sharply last year), which underpins investor optimism heading into 2026. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: Analyst upsides: Some sell‑side shops are raising targets and ratings (notably a Citizens JMP upgrade to $385 PT), which can attract flow and support the share price. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: Multi‑angle bullish commentary: Several investment pieces list Alphabet as a top idea for 2026 based on its AI stack, distribution advantages and cloud growth — reinforcing the buy narrative among retail and advisory channels. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: Strategic/operational moves (energy & acquisitions): Alphabet’s moves to secure power and energy projects for data centers (e.g., Intersect Power) are operationally important but longer‑dated for direct EPS impact; BNP Paribas Exane reiterated coverage amid that acquisition news. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: Longer‑term tech exposures (quantum): Market commentary positions Alphabet as a lower‑risk way to gain exposure to emerging areas like quantum versus pure‑play names — relevant for strategic, not tactical, investors. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Large disclosed sales (John Kent Walker sold ~17,829 shares; director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares) may create short‑term selling pressure or signal tax/planning activity that investors watch. Read More. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: CapEx and margin scrutiny: Analysts and commentaries caution that heavy AI infrastructure spending across hyperscalers could pressure near‑term free cash flow and margins, a risk investors are monitoring. Read More.

About Alphabet

(Get Free Report)

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google's core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google's consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.