Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stake Cut by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,186,866 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 16,422 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 4.5% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $372,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,886,000 after acquiring an additional 806,681 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet signed a major cloud-computing agreement with SpaceX, with reports putting the deal at about $920 million per month for 32 months, which could provide a meaningful revenue stream and reinforce demand for Google Cloud. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s municipal-bond debut drew strong investor demand, suggesting institutions still view the company as a high-quality borrower with flexible financing options. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts said the equity raise is a strategic move to accelerate AI infrastructure and may help Alphabet defend and expand its long-term leadership in search, cloud, and AI. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also appeared in commentary about AI-related partnerships, including potential indirect benefits from the SpaceX IPO and other cloud collaborations, but these are mostly longer-term strategic themes rather than immediate catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street coverage focused heavily on Alphabet’s expanding capital expenditures, with some commentators warning that the AI buildout may be getting too expensive and could pressure free cash flow. Article Title

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $365.76 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $350.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $327.36. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $348.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.00.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.