Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sells 32,500 Shares of Stock

19 Mar 2026, 02:08 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

On Wednesday, March 4th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $9,859,850.00.
On Wednesday, February 18th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total value of $9,877,400.00.
On Wednesday, February 4th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total value of $10,893,350.00.
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 value 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.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $3.11 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $306.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,804,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,160,088. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $318.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $292.32. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $350.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 840 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Nordwand Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $639,000. McDonough Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. McDonough Capital Management Inc now owns 83,954 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,893,000 after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 18,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $345.71.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on GOOG

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hires Jasjeet Sekhon from Bridgewater as chief strategy officer, strengthening DeepMind’s strategic and research bench at a time when top AI talent is a competitive advantage. Bridgewater’s chief scientist Sekhon to join Google’s DeepMind AI unit
Positive Sentiment: Google rolled out a redesigned Stitch AI design tool that analysts/publications say can displace incumbents (Adobe, Figma), creating near-term competitive pressure on rivals and reinforcing Google’s product-led push into AI-powered developer/designer workflows. Adobe Stock Drops After Google’s Stitch Redesign
Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Wiz acquisition (cloud security) and other cloud investments continue to beef up Google Cloud’s product stack, supporting revenue/corporate sales momentum versus AWS/Azure. GOOGL’s Wiz Buyout Expands Cloud Security Portfolio: What’s Ahead?
Positive Sentiment: Reports say Google is expanding ties with the U.S. military and is well positioned to benefit after rivals stumble — a potential source of large, recurring cloud and services contracts. Google Sits Pretty as A.I. Rivals Compete for Pentagon Favor
Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is in talks to buy liquid-cooling systems from Chinese vendors (Envicool and others) and may acquire a Chinese cooling firm — moves aimed at supporting energy-efficient AI data center scale. This reduces future supply/capacity constraints for AI workloads. Google in talks with China’s Envicool, others to buy data centre cooling systems, sources say
Neutral Sentiment: Google told UK regulators it will let sites opt out of generative-AI features in search, a concession meant to ease competition concerns — reduces regulatory overhang but could limit product scope in the UK. Google to allow AI opt-out to ease UK competition concerns
Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet paid a small dividend on March 16 ($0.21/share) — a modest cash return that is unlikely to move the stock materially but supports shareholder yield narrative. Google stock just paid dividends; here’s how much investors received
Negative Sentiment: Analysts flag valuation/near-term margin pressure — Alphabet’s elevated P/E and rising capex for AI/data centers keep some investors cautious despite strong growth. Is Alphabet Stock’s 25.55X PE Still Worth it? Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Negative Sentiment: High executive compensation scrutiny after reports of Sundar Pichai’s large pay package could raise governance concerns for some investors. What Sundar Pichai’s $692 Million Pay Package Says About Alphabet’s Next Chapter

About Alphabet

(Get Free Report)

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.