Rakuten Securities Inc. Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Rakuten Securities Inc. decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 36.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,947 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,654 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of Rakuten Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,546,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $448,684,000 after acquiring an additional 56,295 shares during the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% in the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $352,000. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,277,000 after buying an additional 7,180 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $334.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $317.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.87. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $340.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Alphabet from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $334.60.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is accelerating targeted AI acquisitions, talent deals and strategic investments to strengthen Gemini across media generation, voice and international distribution — a direct growth play that supports future revenue and product differentiation. Google Accelerates AI Deals to Strengthen Gemini in Media and Voice
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile portfolios remain bullish on AI exposure: the Pelosi-linked filing rolled GOOGL exposure into long-dated call positions (LEAPS), a leveraged vote of confidence that institutional-style investors expect continued upside from AI leaders. Pelosi’s Bullish 2026 Buy List: AI, Power & Dividends
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains constructive (recent price-target lift and buy-rating reaffirmations), which can underpin multiple expansion and investor confidence into earnings. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $390.00
• Neutral Sentiment: EU regulators are stepping in to ensure rivals get access to Gemini services/data and have opened proceedings to assist Google in complying with the Digital Markets Act — this clarifies compliance expectations but signals potential constraints on product exclusivity. EU starts proceedings to assist Google in complying with tech rules
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive AI infrastructure developments (e.g., Microsoft’s Maia 200 chip) raise the bar on efficiency and pricing in the cloud/inference market — a sector-level dynamic that could affect GCP cost structure or pricing power over time. Microsoft’s Maia 200: The Profit Engine AI Needs
• Negative Sentiment: Google agreed to a preliminary $68M settlement over claims its voice assistant spied on users — a modest direct cost but a reputational and regulatory reminder that privacy/legal risks persist. Google pays $68 million to settle claims its voice assistant spied on users
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Sundar Pichai reported an insider sale of roughly $10.6M of Alphabet shares ahead of earnings — routine windowed selling but a near-term negative signal some investors watch before an earnings event. Sundar Pichai Offloads Alphabet Shares Worth $10.6M Ahead of February 4 Earnings

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. This represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total value of $10,637,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,211,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,945,705.60. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 222,409 shares of company stock valued at $68,564,532 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.