Clarus Wealth Advisors Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Clarus Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 50.8% during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 8,787 shares valued at approximately $1.53 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Bowman & Co and Burr Financial Services, also raised their stakes in Alphabet, illustrating increasing institutional interest in the company.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.3%, reflecting its commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Clarus Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 50.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,787 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,960 shares during the period. Clarus Wealth Advisors' holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bowman & Co S.C. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the second quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 14,566 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,569,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Bay Rivers Group raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Rivers Group now owns 26,146 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,608,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 10,012 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 19,361 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,412,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burr Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Burr Financial Services LLC now owns 16,160 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 225,588 shares of company stock worth $44,296,554 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $251.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $204.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.01. 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 $140.53 and a 12-month high of $253.04.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet Company 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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