Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 3.1% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded down 3.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $279.05 and last traded at $280.74. 28,915,193 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 31% from the average session volume of 22,142,549 shares. The stock had previously closed at $289.59.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is deepening its AI infrastructure ties by backing a massive Texas data?center project to be leased by Anthropic — a strategic move that secures capacity for large AI models and strengthens a key partner relationship. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has been raising targets: Needham and other analysts have issued $400+/high?3xx targets and firms like Wells Fargo raised theirs recently — supporting medium?term upside narratives despite the pullback. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals remain strong: recent quarterly beats, accelerating Google Cloud backlog (~$240B reported), and rapid Gemini adoption underpin revenue visibility and long?term growth expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Google Research’s TurboQuant memory?compression work has spooked memory suppliers but can be a net positive for Alphabet — lower AI infrastructure costs and greater model efficiency improve margins and competitive positioning. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technically the stock is in a correction from its highs and some commentators frame the selloff as a buying opportunity; price action below key short?term supports is increasing volatility but not yet changing the longer?term bull case. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk intensified after a high?profile jury found YouTube (Alphabet) liable in a social?media addiction bellwether case — the direct damages are small but the ruling increases headline and litigation risk across many pending suits and could force product or regulatory changes that hit engagement/ads. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market and geopolitical pressures: a tech sector selloff (Nasdaq weakness, Iran war worries) and legal blows to peers like Meta have amplified outflows from large cap tech, pressuring GOOG along with the group. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional/insider moves and high?profile position trims (reported sales and some billionaire reductions) add selling pressure and headline risk in the near term. Read More.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $345.71.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $312.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,914,730.12. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2,134.8% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 45,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,984,000 after buying an additional 43,080 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 31.3% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 354,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,345,000 after acquiring an additional 84,553 shares in the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 221,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank of Texas acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $900,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 157,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,272,000 after purchasing an additional 3,444 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.