Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 495,493 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 73,854 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 6.0% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $155,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group set a $410.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $410.84.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital raised its price target on Alphabet to $490 and kept a buy rating, while Oppenheimer lifted its target to $445 with an outperform rating, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth outlook. Loop Capital price target update Oppenheimer price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports pointed to Alphabet’s AI momentum ahead of Google I/O, including growing customer adoption of Gemini Flash and expectations that the event will showcase more AI innovation. Business Insider on Gemini Flash adoption BofA note on Google I/O
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also raised forward earnings estimates for Alphabet, suggesting continued confidence in monetization and profit growth. Alphabet earnings estimate update
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet completed a record-breaking yen bond sale, giving it fresh funding capacity to expand AI infrastructure while diversifying its financing sources. Yen bond issuance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Alphabet’s YouTube revenue, the company’s role in AI infrastructure, and Bill Ackman’s continued interest in mega-cap tech adds to the positive narrative, but these items are more supportive context than direct catalysts. YouTube revenue article Bill Ackman Mag 7 article
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage highlighted Alphabet’s valuation and the broader crowding in AI/mega-cap tech, which could make the stock more vulnerable if sentiment cools. Valuation rerating article UBS crowding warning
• Negative Sentiment: A report that Google may cap new Gmail accounts at 5GB of free storage could be seen as a consumer-unfriendly move and a possible engagement risk if implemented broadly. Gmail storage cap article
• Negative Sentiment: There was also some concern around competition and execution in AI and adjacent hardware, including comparison pieces on Alphabet versus Nvidia and broader AI rivalry. AI competition article

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total transaction of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,908,391. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 157,953 shares of company stock valued at $47,767,818 in the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

GOOGL stock opened at $396.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $329.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $317.27. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $162.00 and a one year high of $403.70. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.