Key Points
- John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet at an average price of $301.45 for about $14.34M, cutting his stake by 78.25% to 13,227 shares (SEC filing disclosed).
- Alphabet beat quarterly estimates, reporting $2.82 EPS vs. $2.57 expected and $113.83B in revenue vs. $111.24B, with the stock trading up to $313.05 on the news.
- Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 ($0.84 annual, ~0.3% yield) and analysts have been raising targets—consensus is a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target around $365.86.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.
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 shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81.
Alphabet Trading Up 3.4%
Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $10.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $313.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,213,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,748,559. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $349.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $320.20 and a 200-day moving average of $277.46.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. CICC Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Alphabet from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. New Street Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $365.86.
View Our Latest Analysis on Alphabet
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $21,944,208,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,338,397,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,686,640,000 after acquiring an additional 15,159,273 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after acquiring an additional 13,004,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Alphabet News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Google deepens commercial AI footprint with a new partnership to build AI tools with Sea Ltd for e‑commerce and gaming — this expands Google Cloud’s addressable market in SEA and signals more enterprise demand for Google’s AI stack. Google, Shopee-owner Sea to develop AI tools
- Positive Sentiment: Product innovation: Google Gemini and Music-focused generative-AI features (also adopted by Apple) show AI features moving into mainstream consumer apps — supports user engagement and future monetization opportunities. Google Gemini, Apple add music-focused generative AI features
- Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud demand theme: coverage highlighting an “inference tsunami” (growing model deployment needs) and Google partner upgrades (Select-tier partners) point toward higher cloud/inference spend that could benefit Google Cloud revenue. An Inference Tsunami May Be Coming for Google Cloud
- Positive Sentiment: Institutional backing: recent 13F activity shows heavyweight investors (e.g., David Tepper boosting positions; Berkshire still holding GOOGL) — institutional support can stabilize shares over time. David Tepper goes big on Alphabet
- Neutral Sentiment: NVIDIA–Meta mega‑deal and huge AI capex across hyperscalers underline intense competition for chips and talent — this validates AI demand but raises the bar for infrastructure investments (mixed for Alphabet). NVIDIA and Meta deepen their AI alliance
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Alphabet exec John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares (~$14.3M) recently — a large disclosed sale that can weigh on sentiment even if not unusual for insiders. SEC filing - insider sale
- Negative Sentiment: Security/legal risk: three Silicon Valley engineers were indicted for allegedly stealing Google trade secrets and sending data to Iran — reputational, intellectual‑property and potential litigation or security-cost implications. Three engineers charged stealing Google trade secrets
- Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation/AI sentiment: notable managers (e.g., Stanley Druckenmiller) sold several high-profile AI names in 13F filings — contributes to broader profit‑taking pressure on AI/hyperscaler stocks. Druckenmiller dumped several AI stocks
About Alphabet
(
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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.
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