Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai Sells 32,500 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total value of $10,893,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,179,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,481,906.96. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Sundar Pichai also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 21st, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were 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 stock was sold at an average price of $299.80, for a total value of $9,743,500.00.
• On Wednesday, December 3rd, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total value of $10,383,750.00.
• On Wednesday, November 19th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total value of $9,640,800.00.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $322.86 on Friday. 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 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $321.60 and its 200 day moving average is $270.17.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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 net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q4 estimates with $113.8B revenue, $2.82 EPS, huge Google Cloud growth (48% y/y) and milestone annual revenue above $400B — evidence that AI and ads are driving durable top?line momentum. Alphabet Crushes Earnings Again, Reports 48% Cloud Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini/product adoption and a surging cloud backlog (reported at ~$240B) support longer?term revenue leverage from AI investments — a structural growth argument investors and many analysts are citing. Google goes from laggard to leader as it pulls ahead of OpenAI with stellar AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokers raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views after the quarter (e.g., Citigroup, JPMorgan, RBC, Needham, Mizuho), providing analyst support under the share price. Multiple analyst price target raises (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data shows no meaningful short position change (reads as negligible/quiet on short?selling activity), so moves are likely driven by flows and sentiment rather than a short squeeze.
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF/sector flows and inclusion chatter (new Big Tech ETFs) can amplify moves in GOOGL but are not company?specific catalysts. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet guided to $175–$185B of capex for 2026 (aimed at AI compute and cloud), a shockingly large jump that has investors fretting about near?term free cash flow and returns on incremental AI spend — the dominant proximate cause of recent weakness. Alphabet resets the bar for AI infrastructure spending (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market narrative: fears about excessive AI capex are prompting a tech sell?off (FactSet noted >$1T wiped from big?tech), which weighs on Alphabet alongside company?specific capex concerns. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported after the quarter, adding near?term pressure on sentiment. Alphabet Shares Down After Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Employee protests over Google Cloud contracts with immigration agencies pose reputational/legal risk that can create headline volatility. Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co raised its stake in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $31,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. New Street Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $275.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.46.

About Alphabet

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.