Clarius Group LLC Trims Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Clarius Group LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,166 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,357 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.7% of Clarius Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.88.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 953 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total value of $229,863.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,171,312.80. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,258.92. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 276,338 shares of company stock worth $59,062,683 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.