Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Purchased by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,211,074 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,617 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.5% of Welch & Forbes LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $189,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 183,343 shares of company stock valued at $31,296,140. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.40.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

GOOG stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $184.71. 16,484,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,515,888. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $172.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.80. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.