Clarus Group Inc. Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Clarus Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 29.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,387 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,683 shares during the period. Clarus Group Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $178.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $167.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 216,195 shares of company stock valued at $35,764,898 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.38.

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.

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