Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Holdings Increased by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,517 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.6% of Clarius Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,570,192.16. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.88.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4%

Alphabet stock opened at $177.23 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $165.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

About Alphabet

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.