Aberdeen Group plc Acquires 74,293 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,185,767 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,293 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.1% of Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.07% of Alphabet worth $1,976,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Weil Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 18,041 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,386,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.5% in the third quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 18,240 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after buying an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Valpey Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $235,000. TT Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $251,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp now owns 10,453 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,550,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $311.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $349.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $320.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $723,945,705.60. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,112,482 shares of company stock valued at $119,145,289. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlights Alphabet’s “quiet edge” — big hidden assets (14% stake in Anthropic, an early SpaceX stake and massive device distribution) that amplify AI and cloud upside beyond Search and YouTube. Alphabet’s Quiet Edge: The Hidden Assets Powering Its Run
• Positive Sentiment: South Korea approved Google’s request to export high‑precision map data — clears a major market access barrier for Google Maps and mapping-related revenue/opportunity in Korea. South Korea approves Google bid to export high-precision map data
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Meta will rent Google’s TPU AI chips for model training — validation of Google’s AI infrastructure business and a potential multi‑billion revenue stream for cloud/TPU services. Google signs multibillion-dollar AI chip deal with Meta, Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet folded robotics unit Intrinsic into Google and signals Gemini may power next‑gen robots — deepens AI product integration and expands commercial AI addressable market. Alphabet’s robotics platform Intrinsic joins Google to support AI models
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Nano Banana 2 (image‑generation model) with faster, better outputs — product improvements that help retain user engagement across AI services. Google rolls out Nano Banana 2
• Positive Sentiment: Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller increased his Alphabet stake again — a notable institutional vote of confidence often read positively by the market. Druckenmiller Piled Into Alphabet
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other analyst pieces reiterate Alphabet’s AI‑fueled edge in Search and Cloud vs. Meta, reinforcing the consensus growth story but not changing near‑term guidance. Meta Platforms vs. Alphabet: Which Digital Ad Behemoth Has an Edge?
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo’s planned expansion toward Chicago signals long‑term commercialization progress but remains a multi‑year revenue story rather than an immediate profit driver. Waymo to bring driverless cars to Chicago
• Negative Sentiment: Belgian competition watchdog opened a probe into Google’s online ad pricing practices — regulatory and legal risk that could pressure ad revenue or require business changes. Belgian watchdog opens probe into Google’s online ad price practices
• Negative Sentiment: Internal tensions: 100+ Google AI employees urged limits on some military uses of Gemini, highlighting governance/ethical frictions that could complicate product deployment and public perception. Google Workers Seek ‘Red Lines’ on Military A.I.
• Negative Sentiment: Schaeffer’s options commentary warns bulls to watch for faltering action and offers a trade for subscribers — a signal some traders are positioning for short‑term downside or increased volatility. Bulls Should Keep Watch on Faltering Alphabet Stock

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alphabet from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Arete Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.57.

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.