Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1.5% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares traded down 1.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $346.01 and last traded at $346.19. Approximately 17,273,165 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 21,353,342 shares. The stock had previously closed at $351.37.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet said it is developing a custom AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to run Gemini more efficiently and lower inference costs, which investors view as a potential margin and competitiveness boost. Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently, the Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Google also released three new Gemini models, including cheaper “Flash” versions and a cybersecurity-focused model, signaling faster product iteration and a push to improve AI economics ahead of earnings. Google expands Gemini lineup with cheaper models and new Mythos rival
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains broadly constructive, with Wall Street expecting strong search and cloud results and options markets pricing in a meaningful post-earnings move, reflecting elevated but still bullish expectations. Alphabet’s Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is scheduled to report second-quarter results after Wednesday’s close, and investors are waiting to see whether AI investment, cloud growth, and ad strength justify the company’s elevated valuation. What to expect from Alphabet’s Q2 earnings: AI, Gemini and cloud in focus
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors remain concerned that the flagship Gemini 3.5 Pro model is still delayed, which raises questions about execution versus rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. Google updates lightweight Gemini models, but flagship still delayed
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing securities-fraud investigations and investor lawsuits are creating an overhang, even though they do not change the near-term operating story. Securities Fraud Investigation Into Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Continues

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $383.44.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $365.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $337.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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 business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,712,878,000 after acquiring an additional 953,790 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in Alphabet by 28,482.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after acquiring an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,569,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,151 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.