Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Key Points

• Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its Alphabet stake by 2.8% in the first quarter, selling 11,680 shares and ending with 409,445 shares valued at about $117.7 million.
• Alphabet posted a strong latest quarter, reporting EPS of $5.11 versus analysts’ $2.64 estimate and revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.
• Investor focus is shifting to AI and cloud execution, with recent reports highlighting a new AI chip and updated Gemini models, even as concerns linger about AI spending and a delayed flagship Gemini release.

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 409,445 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,680 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.5% of Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $117,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Seaside Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Seaside Wealth Management Inc. now owns 925 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 30.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,013,281 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,441,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,514 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.4% during the first quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 44,035 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,663,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 24.0% during the first quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 29,087 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,364,000 after acquiring an additional 5,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial Strategies Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the first quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 7,748 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,228,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $347.15 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $367.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $338.65. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.46 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reportedly developed a new AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to make Gemini run more efficiently, which could improve margins and help ease compute constraints for Google Cloud. Reuters: Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently
• Positive Sentiment: Google released new Gemini models, including cheaper and more efficient versions, signaling continued AI product momentum ahead of earnings. TechCrunch: Google releases three new Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Alphabet going into Q2 results, with expectations that Search and Google Cloud can still deliver strong growth. Yahoo Finance: Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s earnings report on Wednesday is expected to be a major market test for AI spending, cloud growth, and capital expenditure discipline. Invezz: What to expect from Alphabet's Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also facing a cluster of securities-fraud investigation headlines, though these are largely legal overhangs at this stage rather than new operational news. PR Newswire: Securities fraud investigation continues
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that a flagship Gemini model remains delayed, adding to investor worries that heavy AI spending may not translate into results quickly enough. Reuters: Alphabet's Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. HSBC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $414.54.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

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