Clare Market Investments LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 105,977 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,182,000. Alphabet makes up about 4.8% of Clare Market Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after buying an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 5,164 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 29,710 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,967,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the third quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,270 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

Alphabet stock traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $168.85. The stock had a trading volume of 11,700,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,006,480. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.01 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark restated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.