Clarius Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Clarius Group LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 5.9% during the second quarter, now holding 55,982 shares worth approximately $9.93 million.
• Alphabet's shares traded at $251.51, reflecting a 2.1% increase, with a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion.
• The company recently reported earnings of $2.31 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, alongside a 13.8% year-over-year revenue growth of $96.43 billion.

Clarius Group LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,982 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,535 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.6% of Clarius Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Clarius Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 580,897.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,963,208,000 after buying an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Alphabet by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,334,852,000 after buying an additional 1,098,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,380,073 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,183,979,000 after buying an additional 440,526 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $251.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $223.05 and a 200 day moving average of $187.91. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.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 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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. This represents 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 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.33.

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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