Cane Capital Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Cane Capital Partners reduced its Alphabet stake by 12.1% in the first quarter, selling 8,160 shares and leaving it with 59,031 shares worth about $16.98 million. Alphabet remains the fund’s largest holding, making up 7.4% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $5.11 versus analysts’ estimate of $2.64 and revenue of $109.9 billion, ahead of expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.
• Despite the recent share sale and a modest 0.8% decline in trading, analysts remain bullish overall, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $413.54. Several firms recently lifted targets, citing Alphabet’s AI and cloud growth potential.

Cane Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,031 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,160 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 7.4% of Cane Capital Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Cane Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 855.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after acquiring an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in Alphabet by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $358.89 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.38 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $372.47 and a 200-day moving average of $336.30. The company has a market cap of $4.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 6.71%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to be viewed as a leading AI beneficiary thanks to its broad distribution across Search, Android, YouTube, Google Cloud and custom chips, which could help it monetize AI spending more effectively than peers. Alphabet vs. Meta: Which AI Stock Is the Better Buy Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage coverage remains favorable, with a report saying analysts see about 10% upside for Alphabet after its recent earnings strength, and another note saying brokerages rate the stock a “Moderate Buy.”
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is still being highlighted as a top internet and cloud stock positioned to benefit from heavy AI infrastructure spending, supporting the view that growth can continue even as the market rotates among tech leaders.
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s recent $10 billion private placement in Alphabet is continuing to attract bullish attention, signaling institutional confidence in the company’s long-term value and AI potential.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo’s plan to expand driverless rides to four more major cities adds another long-term growth avenue outside core advertising and cloud businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google is rolling out disclosures showing when ads were made with AI, which may improve transparency but does not appear to be a major near-term financial driver.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s search product hit record query volume during the World Cup, underscoring usage strength in the core business, though this is more of an engagement datapoint than a direct earnings catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Google is appealing an Indian ruling tied to trademark issues in its ads platform, creating a legal/regulatory headline that could weigh on sentiment around the advertising business. Google appeals Indian ruling over its ads platform, citing consumer harm
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary notes that Alphabet has pulled back alongside other mega-cap tech names as investors rotate toward other parts of the AI trade, which may be contributing to the stock’s weakness today.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.54.

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.

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