Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Clarius Group LLC

Key Points

• Clarius Group LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6.1%, selling 4,357 shares during the 2nd quarter, bringing its total ownership to 67,166 shares.
• Insider transactions reveal that CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares valued at $6.37 million, resulting in a 1.29% decrease of his position in the company.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, with a payout ratio of 8.95%, as the stock remains a notable investment for institutional investors.

Clarius Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,166 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,357 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.7% of Clarius Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Clarius Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the second quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Financial Council LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the second quarter. Financial Council LLC now owns 5,800 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Enzi Wealth increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the first quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 276,338 shares of company stock worth $59,062,683. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $226.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Mizuho set a $295.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $245.88.

Alphabet 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.

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