Rathbones Group PLC Has $1.34 Billion Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its position in Alphabet by 7.6%, selling 354,491 shares and ending the quarter with 4,292,095 shares worth $1,343,426,000, representing 4.2% of Rathbones' portfolio and Alphabet’s third-largest holding.
• Wall Street is broadly bullish—multiple firms raised price targets (examples: Citi $405, Pivotal $420) and the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $367.62.
• Recent developments are mixed: positives include a long-term power deal for a data center, Pentagon talks to use Gemini, and new consumer AI features, while negatives include EU DMA data-access proposals and notable insider selling; Alphabet also pays a quarterly dividend (~0.2% yield).

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,292,095 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 354,491 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 4.2% of Rathbones Group PLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,343,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $53,000. Corsicana & Co. bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 278.8% during the fourth quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 250 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $405.00 target price (up from $390.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $367.62.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NiSource signed a long‑term power supply agreement with an Alphabet unit to support a large Indiana data center, reducing energy‑supply risk and supporting capacity expansion on which cloud/AI revenue depends. NiSource signs long-term power deal with Alphabet, expands Amazon agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Google is negotiating a deal to allow the Pentagon to deploy its Gemini models in classified settings — a potential high‑value government customer and proof point for Gemini’s enterprise/security positioning. Google, Pentagon discuss classified AI deal, the Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Google expanded consumer AI features: users can now link personal photos to Gemini and Nano Banana for personalized image generation — an engagement and monetization positive for search/assistant and image services. Google will let users connect their photos to the Gemini chatbot and Nano Banana
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street momentum: Citi and Phillip Securities raised price targets (Citi to $405; Phillip to $395) and several bullish analyst notes were published ahead of Q1 results, which can support near‑term buying interest. Wall Street sets Google stock price target for the next twelve months Phillip Securities adjusts price target on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary (Zacks) highlights Alphabet’s strong earnings‑surprise history and suggests conditions are favorable for another upside surprise in the next report — supportive for investor sentiment ahead of earnings. Will Alphabet (GOOG) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry note: reports about Anthropic exploring custom chips point to broader AI infrastructure shifts that could reshape supplier dynamics (Broadcom, Nvidia) but have indirect implications for Alphabet’s cost/partner ecosystem. Why Anthropic's Custom Chip Plans Could Benefit Broadcom (GOOGL)
• Neutral Sentiment: Google reported blocking a record number of bad ads while suspending fewer advertisers, raising platform‑quality and moderation questions but not an immediate revenue threat. Google is now targeting bad ads over bad actors
• Negative Sentiment: The European Commission told Google it must give rival search engines access to wide ranges of search and chatbot data under DMA compliance proposals — a major regulatory overhang that could affect search advantages, ad targeting data and competitive moat. Google should allow third-party search engines access to data, EU says
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus reduced expectations for Alphabet’s stock price, adding a modest negative analyst view amid mixed signals; this may add some selling pressure for momentum traders. Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL Stock Price

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,818,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at $856,605,814.08. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,068,744 shares of company stock valued at $104,505,914. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $336.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $306.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $300.68. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.10 and a 1 year high of $349.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

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.

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