Clare Market Investments LLC Takes $24.18 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 84,090 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $24,181,000. Alphabet makes up about 5.1% of Clare Market Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its stake in Alphabet by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $85,557,000 after acquiring an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $393.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. HSBC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.73.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Warren Buffett said he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s Alphabet investment, a high-profile endorsement that is helping sentiment around Alphabet (GOOGL). Warren Buffett tells CNBC he initiated Berkshire Hathaway's investment in Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst previews say Alphabet’s AI momentum, cloud backlog, and earnings growth expectations could support another strong quarter, keeping investors upbeat ahead of results. Alphabet’s AI Spending Question Looms Over Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Alphabet to strong-buy, citing earnings growth expectations and attractive fundamentals relative to its valuation. Zacks upgrade to strong-buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet expanded its clean-energy commitments with its largest solar and battery storage purchase yet, which supports its long-term infrastructure strategy but is not an immediate earnings driver. Google's biggest clean power project is 40 miles north of xAI's unpermitted gas power plant
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also drew attention for a new collaboration with INVIDI Technologies to extend addressable advertising to set-top boxes, a potentially helpful ad-tech expansion but still early-stage. INVIDI Technologies Collaborates with Google to Integrate Google Ad Manager
• Negative Sentiment: The European Commission is preparing new fines against Google, renewing regulatory risk and adding pressure to Alphabet’s legal overhang. EU Prepares to Fine Google as Part of Increased Big Tech Enforcement
• Negative Sentiment: Google is also fighting antitrust scrutiny in Europe and Switzerland, including efforts to preserve a court ruling that overturned a $1.7 billion EU fine and a new Swiss probe over Android search defaults. Google urges EU top court to back ruling scrapping $1.7 billion antitrust fine
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports raised concerns about Google’s AI search tools and a DeepMind researcher’s resignation over the company’s Pentagon work, both of which could add reputational risk. A DeepMind researcher resigned over its AI military deal

Alphabet Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $370.92 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.48 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company has a market cap of $4.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business's 50 day moving average is $370.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $337.62.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.