Rakuten Securities Inc. Sells 2,288 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Rakuten Securities Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,191 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,288 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.8% of Rakuten Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,625,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,630,861,000 after buying an additional 3,218,852 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

Alphabet stock opened at $338.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $349.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $342.61. The company has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.90 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson set a $350.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $420.19.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue growth and expanding margins continue to support Alphabet’s AI investment strategy. Supporters argue that cloud growth—reportedly up 82% year over year—could eventually justify the company’s much higher spending. Google Cloud growth article
• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge rejected a forced breakup of Google’s ad-tech business, limiting the immediate structural risk to Alphabet. The company will instead face behavioral remedies, although the ad-network business recently contracted. Google ad-business ruling
• Positive Sentiment: New AI features in Gmail, Docs and Keep, along with continued Gemini development, could improve user engagement and strengthen Alphabet’s competitive position in generative AI. Rosenblatt also reaffirmed a buy rating with a $410 price target. Google AI product launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share on September 14 to shareholders of record on September 4, providing a modest income component but unlikely to materially change the investment case. Alphabet dividend article
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet raised 2026 capital-spending guidance to approximately $195 billion–$205 billion. Second-quarter free cash flow turned negative as capital expenditures reached $44.9 billion, raising concerns that AI infrastructure spending may take years to generate adequate returns. Alphabet cloud margins and AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also concerned about execution: Gemini 3.5 Pro reportedly remained delayed, while the company faces multiple securities-fraud investigations and continued scrutiny over its ad-tech practices. These issues add legal and competitive risk to an already expensive AI buildout. Gemini delay article

About Alphabet

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.