Welch & Forbes LLC Has $165.34 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,173,231 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.5% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $165,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $165.67.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.73, for a total value of $119,784.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,164 shares in the company, valued at $1,072,665.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $169.83. 15,132,966 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,754,559. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.79 and a 12 month high of $176.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $152.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

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.