Cornerstone Enterprises LLC Sells 19,883 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Cornerstone Enterprises LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 36.8%, selling 19,883 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with about 34,099 shares valued at $6,009,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard and UBS, increased their holdings in Alphabet, with Vanguard acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares this quarter.
• Alphabet's recent financial performance exceeded expectations, reporting $2.31 EPS against a consensus estimate of $2.15, alongside revenues of $96.43 billion for the quarter.

Cornerstone Enterprises LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 36.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,099 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 19,883 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.2% of Cornerstone Enterprises LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Cornerstone Enterprises LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,749,806,000 after acquiring an additional 593,345 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after acquiring an additional 727,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,962,389,000 after acquiring an additional 104,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $280.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday. HSBC started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $252.24.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $253.30 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $231.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.