Claro Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Claro Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,384 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,923 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of Claro Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 153,053 shares of company stock worth $27,559,701. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $191.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $183.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

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.