Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by Clare Market Investments LLC

Key Points

• Clare Market Investments LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc., purchasing an additional 1,279 shares, bringing its total to 88,494 shares, which represent 3.4% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 40.03% of Alphabet Inc., with several firms, including Vanguard and UBS AM, boosting their positions significantly in the first quarter.
• Alphabet recently had a quarterly earnings report where it exceeded expected earnings per share of $2.31, and it announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding 0.3%.

Clare Market Investments LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,494 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 3.4% of Clare Market Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Clare Market Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% during 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. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 79,160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $14,985,000 after purchasing an additional 4,756 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $464,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $89,168,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $254.72. 55,452,697 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,953,800. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $209.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.41. 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 cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.54.

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.