Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 430,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,749 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $75,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.8%

Alphabet stock opened at $278.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $256.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.79. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $292.01. The company has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 221,796 shares of company stock worth $53,983,001. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $343.00 price target (up previously from $280.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.10.

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.