Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Clare Market Investments LLC's 8th Largest Position

Clare Market Investments LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,215 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,355 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.6% of Clare Market Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Clare Market Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Burt Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $168.21. 34,550,448 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,112,310. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm's fifty day moving average is $159.54 and its 200-day moving average is $174.43.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 in the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.

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.