As the ongoing rally continues to push Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) stock to new all-time highs, the same fate befalls GOOG shares when it comes to insider trading. This practice, popular among higher executives from the companies that belong to the ‘Magnificent Seven,’ underscores the dynamic nature of the stock market.
On May 15, the CEO of Alphabet (formerly known as Google), Sundar Pichai, sold 22,500 GOOG shares at an average price of $173.22 for a total profit of almost $3.9 million.
With a trend that is heavily favoring insider sales over buys in 2024, Pichai’s sale adds to the 66 previous insider sales in this year only, with no insider purchases recorded.
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This trade brings Pichai’s total GOOG share sales to over $27 million in just 2024, prompting investors to wonder how much the CEO believes in his own company.
Suspicious timing of the trade
The timing also raises suspicion about Pichai’s trade, which occurred just after the I/O developer conference on May 14.
At the I/O developer conference, Google highlighted its latest AI advancements, emphasizing its focus on competing with OpenAI, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Meta (NASDAQ: META). Key announcements included AI upgrades to Search, Android, and Workspace apps. Google aims to integrate advanced AI models from Google DeepMind across its ecosystem.
Practical user enhancements were also revealed, such as improvements to the Gemini AI service for better virtual assistant interactions on Android devices. Additionally, Google introduced ‘Project Astra,’ an augmented reality platform for AI-guided vision and speech.
GOOG stock has been on a steady climb
As of the latest closing on May 17, GOOG stock was trading at $177.29 after gains of 1.06% in the last trading session. Interestingly, since the I/O developer conference, GOOG shares have added 3.86%.
Zooming out, GOOG stock brought in an impressive 27.03% gain in value on a YTD chart.
It might be hard to tell whether Pishai’s trades were preplanned to capitalize on the gains of the new announcements or if the timing was just right.
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