Cornerstone Enterprises LLC Sells 3,536 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Cornerstone Enterprises LLC cut its Alphabet stake by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,536 shares and leaving it with 30,753 shares worth about $9.6 million.
• Alphabet continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with major investors like Berkshire Hathaway, Capital World Investors, and Capital Research Global Investors all holding or adding large positions.
• The company posted strong fundamentals and shareholder returns, beating quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, while also raising its quarterly dividend from $0.21 to $0.22 per share.

Cornerstone Enterprises LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,753 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,536 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.6% of Cornerstone Enterprises LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Cornerstone Enterprises LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,338,397,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake 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 buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Alphabet by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,333,076,000 after buying an additional 6,874,381 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP grew its stake in Alphabet by 23,402.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 6,118,547 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,487,419,000 after buying an additional 6,092,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 259.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 7,221,115 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,755,453,000 after buying an additional 5,210,434 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet briefly surpassed NVIDIA in market value, highlighting renewed investor confidence in its AI strategy and earnings strength. Alphabet Is on the Brink of Beating NVIDIA in Market Value: ETFs to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Google said it likely thwarted an AI-generated zero-day exploit, underscoring the strength of its cybersecurity capabilities and AI threat-detection tools. Google says it likely thwarted effort by hacker group to use AI for 'mass exploitation event'
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is expanding Google Finance into Europe as part of its AI-focused product rollout, supporting the case for continued AI-driven innovation across its ecosystem. Google Finance Continues AI-Focused Expansion With EU Launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is planning its first yen-denominated bond offering to help fund rising AI infrastructure spending, adding to its recent debt raises in other currencies. Alphabet considers first yen bond sale to fund AI goals
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that short interest increased were based on zero shares reported, so they do not appear to provide meaningful directional signal for GOOGL.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. Commerce Department removed details from a public page about AI security testing involving Google, Microsoft, and xAI, which could raise mild regulatory transparency questions. Microsoft, Google, xAI security test details deleted from US government website

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock worth $47,951,856. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on Alphabet from $385.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Phillip Securities upped their price objective on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $407.86.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.0%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $388.64 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.16 and a 1 year high of $402.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $322.04 and a 200-day moving average of $313.71. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

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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