Compound Planning Inc. Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Compound Planning Inc. boosted its Alphabet stake by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 22,370 more shares and bringing its total to 155,130 shares valued at about $48.6 million.
• Alphabet reported a strong quarterly beat, posting $5.11 EPS versus $2.64 expected and revenue of $109.9 billion versus $106.98 billion forecast. Analysts now expect the company to earn 14.3 EPS for the full fiscal year.
• Sentiment remains broadly positive: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” Wall Street rating with an average target price of $413.13, while Alphabet also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share. However, Waymo’s robotaxi recall and recent insider selling add some caution.

Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,130 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,370 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of Compound Planning Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Compound Planning Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $48,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Kentucky Trust Co raised its position in Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $368.48 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $366.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.69. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s core AI and cloud story got another boost after reports highlighted strong earnings momentum and a rapidly expanding Google Cloud backlog, reinforcing the view that business demand remains healthy. Alphabet Just Beat Earnings by 94% and Doubled Its Cloud Backlog to $460 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it nearly tripled its Alphabet stake, a notable vote of confidence from a major value investor that may support sentiment. Warren Buffett Just Tripled Down on the Stock Bill Ackman Is Selling
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC announced a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud to expand AI usage, adding another large enterprise customer to Alphabet’s cloud growth narrative. HSBC partners with Google Cloud to expand AI usage
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled new AI-related plans, including an “AI Control Roadmap” to address rogue AI agents, underscoring continued investment and leadership in AI infrastructure and safety. Google Devises Battle Plan to Combat Rogue AI Agents
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s AI talent war remains a focus after Noam Shazeer, a co-lead on Gemini, reportedly left for OpenAI, which may raise questions about retention but does not change the core business overnight. Google's Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer to join OpenAI
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo issued a recall of about 3,900 robotaxis after software issues caused vehicles to enter highway construction zones, adding regulatory and execution risk to Alphabet’s self-driving unit. Waymo to recall over 3,800 robotaxis over risk of entering closed construction zones
• Negative Sentiment: A director sold a meaningful block of shares, which can modestly weigh on sentiment even though insider sales are not always a bearish signal. SEC filing for John L. Hennessy sale

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. New Street Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet 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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