Welch Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,016 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 13,891 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,017 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Alphabet by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,583,257 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $207,185,000 after acquiring an additional 164,906 shares during the period. Wesleyan Assurance Society grew its stake in Alphabet by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wesleyan Assurance Society now owns 287,350 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,588,000 after acquiring an additional 32,050 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden grew its stake in Alphabet by 52.5% in the 3rd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 60,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,871,000 after acquiring an additional 20,709 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total value of $1,826,979.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 48,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,365,523.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,958 shares of company stock worth $22,383,553. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $0.94 on Thursday, hitting $176.03. The stock had a trading volume of 11,016,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,714,996. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $115.35 and a one year high of $180.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $169.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $196.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.26.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.