Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director Sells $27,692.22 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total value of $27,692.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,414,801.45. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Frances Arnold also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 30th, Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total transaction of $27,337.98.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $337.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The stock has a market cap of $4.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $349.02 and a 200-day moving average of $342.38. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $224.79 and a one year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MLG Wealth Management DBA Pine Grove Financial Group increased its position in Alphabet by 64.9% during the second quarter. MLG Wealth Management DBA Pine Grove Financial Group now owns 3,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 5,092 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Range Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. Range Advisory LLC now owns 20,651 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 6,186 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 1,552 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,053,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Dbs Bank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $420.19.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge rejected the U.S. government’s request to force Google to sell its AdX advertising exchange, removing the immediate risk of a disruptive breakup. The ruling still requires Google to change certain ad-tech practices, but the decision preserves the structure of a highly profitable business. Google defeats US bid to force ad-tech sale
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway increased its Alphabet position by roughly $10 billion, with CEO Greg Abel describing Google as a significant AI player. The investment provides a high-profile vote of confidence in Alphabet’s AI capabilities and long-term growth prospects. Berkshire CEO comments on Alphabet AI investment
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is securing additional power for its expanding AI infrastructure. Google agreed to purchase approximately 400 megawatts of geothermal electricity from Fervo Energy for a Utah data center, while Eos Energy announced a battery-storage partnership tied to a planned $350 million West Virginia project. These agreements support data-center capacity growth and energy reliability. Google buys geothermal power from Fervo
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded paid robotaxi service to Denver, San Diego and Tampa, bringing its operations to 14 U.S. cities. The rollout offers Alphabet investors evidence of increasing commercialization outside the core advertising business. Waymo expands robotaxi service
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports indicate Google may release Gemini 3.8 Flash this week, with internal testing showing improved coding performance. A stronger model could support Cloud and Workspace monetization, although the financial impact remains unproven. New Google AI model report
• Negative Sentiment: The antitrust ruling was not a complete victory: Google must implement undisclosed operational changes intended to address illegal practices and pressure on publisher ad rates. Regulatory scrutiny therefore remains a continuing risk to ad-tech economics. Federal judge declines to break up Google ad technology business
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh Alphabet’s heavy AI infrastructure spending against uncertain returns. Competition from OpenAI and other AI providers, along with reported talent losses, could pressure Google Search and increase the cost of defending its market position. OpenAI advertising competition report

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.