Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Holdings Decreased by Claar Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Claar Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 5.5%, now owning approximately $21.83 million in shares, constituting 7.4% of its portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have increased their positions in Alphabet during the same period, reflecting strong investor interest.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 to be paid on September 15th, as the company continues to show robust financial performance, with a 13.8% year-over-year revenue growth.

Claar Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,701 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,099 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 7.4% of Claar Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Claar Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 155.7% during the 1st quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 32,835 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,130,000 after acquiring an additional 19,996 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 60,851 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,507,000 after acquiring an additional 13,066 shares during the period. Belmont Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. Belmont Capital LLC now owns 12,000 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,875,000 after acquiring an additional 5,619 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.5% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 953,206 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $137,621,000 after buying an additional 134,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 13.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,303,750 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $516,145,000 after buying an additional 384,312 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

Alphabet stock traded up $2.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $235.17. The stock had a trading volume of 26,091,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,868,892. The company has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $196.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.82. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $236.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.