Key Points
- Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares on March 4 at an average price of $303.38 for about $9.86M, trimming his stake by 1.9% to 1,674,560 shares; the sale continues a pattern of repeated 32,500‑share disposals in recent months.
- Alphabet beat quarterly expectations with $2.82 EPS on $113.83B in revenue and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 (annualized $0.84), implying a ~0.3% yield.
- Near‑term catalysts include a large Google Cloud/AI deal with CVS and continued access to Anthropic models, but Alphabet also faces legal and regulatory headwinds such as a Gemini‑related wrongful‑death lawsuit, Waymo probes, and reduced Play Store commission rates.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total transaction of $9,859,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at $508,028,012.80. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.
Sundar Pichai also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Wednesday, February 18th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00.
- On Wednesday, February 4th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total transaction of $10,893,350.00.
- On Wednesday, January 21st, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total transaction of $10,637,250.00.
- On Wednesday, January 7th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00.
- On Monday, December 15th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.80, for a total transaction of $9,743,500.00.
Alphabet Stock Down 0.7%
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $298.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $349.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $319.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.67.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 7.77%.
Alphabet News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Large cloud commercial win — CVS will deploy an AI‑enabled health platform on Google Cloud, validating enterprise demand for recurring cloud/AI revenue and supporting the Google Cloud/Gemini growth story. CVS taps Google Cloud
- Positive Sentiment: AI partnership continuity — Google said Anthropic will remain available for non‑defense projects after DoD actions, limiting disruption to Alphabet’s access to Anthropic models and enterprise AI offerings. Google says Anthropic remains available
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional support — Robert W. Baird lifted its price target to $380 and other firms have boosted targets/ratings recently, reinforcing buy narratives and upside vs. the current price. Baird raises price target
- Neutral Sentiment: Small insider sales — filings show modest sales by a director and the CAO; routine disclosures that markets note but are not large enough to signal strategic conviction changes. SEC filing — insider sales
- Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary on recent pullback — coverage (e.g., Zacks) highlights the stock’s slide since earnings and asks whether it can rebound, offering investor viewpoints but no new company fundamentals. Zacks — can it rebound?
- Negative Sentiment: Legal/PR overhang: a wrongful‑death lawsuit alleges harmful guidance from the Gemini chatbot, raising potential liability, regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk for Alphabet’s core AI investment thesis. Gemini wrongful‑death lawsuit
- Negative Sentiment: Autonomous‑vehicle scrutiny — the NHTSA/NHTSA‑led safety forum and ongoing probes into Waymo incidents increase regulatory risk and operational uncertainty for the self‑driving unit. NHTSA self‑driving safety forum
- Negative Sentiment: App store revenue pressure — a settlement with Epic lowered Play Store commission rates (to ~20% + up to 5%), which could modestly reduce Play‑ecosystem take rates and near‑term revenue. Play Store commission cut
- Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical pressure — recent tensions and tech pullbacks in affected markets (e.g., Dubai exposure) are weighing on large‑cap tech multiples, contributing to negative sentiment around GOOGL. Tech offices respond to U.S.-Iran tensions
Institutional Trading of Alphabet
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Symmetry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,476,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Members Trust Co grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Insight 2811 Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $978,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $395.00 price target (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $279.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Three 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $367.18.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Alphabet
About Alphabet
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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.
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