Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Rakuten Securities Inc.

Rakuten Securities Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 36.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 222,409 shares of company stock valued at $68,564,532. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Citic Securities boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Alphabet from $340.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $334.60.

Key Stories 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

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $334.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $317.62 and a 200 day moving average of $262.87. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.08. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $340.49.

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

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.