Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Insider Sells 8,998 Shares of Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% 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.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3%

GOOG traded up $4.56 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $357.89. 19,444,791 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,903,051. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $366.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $332.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $173.88 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,508 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the first quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the first quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google Cloud and AI strategy got fresh validation from a strategic partnership with FactSet, supporting enterprise adoption of Google’s AI tools. FactSet Announces Strategic Partnership with Google Cloud to Bring Advanced AI to Financial Intelligence
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched new lower-cost AI image and video models, reinforcing its competitive position in generative AI. Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s addition to the Dow Jones Industrial Average remains a supportive technical and sentiment boost, with potential passive-fund buying. Reuters: Alphabet debuts in Dow Jones Industrial Average as index tilts toward tech
• Positive Sentiment: Google said it has exceeded its $1 billion Africa investment target, highlighting long-term expansion efforts in infrastructure and AI. Reuters: Google has exceeded $1 billion Africa investment target
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple reports and analyst notes continued to highlight bullish views and higher price targets for GOOG, reinforcing a favorable long-term setup.
• Negative Sentiment: A Swedish court ordered Google to pay about $1.5 billion in antitrust damages in a case tied to PriceRunner and claims of search favoritism. Reuters: Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5 billion to Klarna in antitrust damages
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Alphabet’s massive AI infrastructure spending could weigh on margins and free cash flow near term. Yahoo Finance: If You Think Alphabet’s AI Spending Is High Now, Just Wait for 2028
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling by Alphabet directors and executives may add a small amount of caution, even though the transactions were modest. SEC filing: Alphabet insider transaction

About Alphabet

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.