Insider Trading February 17, 2026

Alphabet Director John Hennessy Sells 590 GOOGL Shares Worth About $184,036

Trust-based disposals executed under a 10b5-1 plan; transaction coincides with major M&A and AI product developments at the company

By Jordan Park GOOGL
Alphabet Director John Hennessy Sells 590 GOOGL Shares Worth About $184,036
GOOGL

John L. Hennessy, a director of Alphabet Inc., sold 590 shares of Class A common stock through a trust on February 13, 2026, for roughly $184,036. The disposals took place under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan and reduced the trust's holding to 20,624 shares. The trades come amid several significant corporate moves for Alphabet, including EU clearance for its $32 billion Wiz acquisition, upgrades to the Gemini 3 Deep Think AI system, and a new EU antitrust probe into ad pricing.

Key Points

  • Director John L. Hennessy sold 590 shares of Alphabet Class A stock through a trust on February 13, 2026, for about $184,036, at prices between $306.11 and $307.77.
  • The trades were executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted on November 5, 2024, and reduced the trust's holdings to 20,624 shares.
  • Alphabet has secured EU approval for its $32 billion Wiz acquisition, upgraded its Gemini 3 Deep Think AI for science and engineering use cases, and faces a new EU antitrust probe into alleged ad-price inflation.

Alphabet Inc. Director John L. Hennessy completed a series of sales of Class A common shares on February 13, 2026, disposing of a total of 590 shares for approximately $184,036. The transactions were executed through a trust and were carried out at prices ranging from $306.11 to $307.77.

The block-by-block activity recorded on that date consisted of multiple discrete sales. The detailed breakdown of those transactions is as follows:

  • 92 shares at $306.12 (within a range of $305.66 to $306.52)
  • 80 shares at $306.97 (within a range of $306.66 to $307.46)
  • 28 shares at $307.77 (within a range of $307.73 to $307.79)
  • 79 shares at $306.13 (within a range of $305.47 to $306.47)
  • 159 shares at $306.90 (within a range of $306.49 to $307.45)
  • 47 shares at $307.64 (within a range of $307.54 to $307.73)
  • 78 shares at $306.11 (within a range of $305.47 to $306.46)
  • 37 shares at $307.61 (within a range of $307.52 to $307.73)

Following these dispositions, the trust's holding of Alphabet Class A common stock fell to 20,624 shares. The sales were executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan that Hennessy adopted on November 5, 2024. In addition to the trust holdings, Hennessy holds 1 share of Class C capital stock directly and 5,681 shares by trust.


These insider sales occur as Alphabet, currently valued at about $3.66 trillion, continues to post notable corporate developments. Over the past year, Alphabet's shares have returned nearly 65%.

On the transaction and valuation front, an analysis by InvestingPro indicates that Alphabet is trading slightly above its Fair Value and carries strong financial health ratings. Investors and market watchers will note that the director's sales were completed under an established trading plan - a mechanism commonly used to avoid questions around opportunistic timing.


Separately, Alphabet has secured unconditional European Union antitrust approval for its $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Wiz, a deal that the company describes as its largest to date. The acquisition is framed as a strategic move to strengthen Alphabet's footprint in cybersecurity and cloud computing.

On the product side, Alphabet announced substantial upgrades to its Gemini 3 Deep Think AI system. The enhancements are aimed at bolstering capabilities for science, research, and engineering applications. Access to the upgraded model is being provided to Google AI Ultra subscribers and to select enterprises through the Gemini API.

At the same time, the company is facing fresh regulatory scrutiny in Europe. The European Commission has opened a new antitrust investigation into allegations that Alphabet artificially inflated advertising prices on its search engine, raising concerns about potential effects on advertisers.

In the equity research community, Citizens has reiterated a Market Outperform rating for Alphabet, calling attention to the expanding role of AI in improving search functionality.


Taken together, the insider sales, significant M&A activity, product upgrades, regulatory attention, and analyst endorsements paint a complex picture of Alphabet's current corporate landscape. The director's trust-based disposals were modest in scale relative to the company's overall market capitalization but are documented in precise detail and executed under an established 10b5-1 plan.

Risks

  • European Union antitrust investigation into alleged inflation of advertising prices - may affect Alphabet's advertising business and advertisers.
  • Regulatory scrutiny and enforcement in the EU related to M&A and competition policy - relevant to cloud and cybersecurity markets.
  • Insider sales, even when conducted under a 10b5-1 plan, could be interpreted by some market participants as a factor worth monitoring for governance or signaling reasons.

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