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

Welch Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,297 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,928 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after purchasing an additional 18,700,111 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 587.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,772,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135,056 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after buying an additional 7,275,757 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 116.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,437,957,000 after buying an additional 4,662,809 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18,810.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $807,700,000 after buying an additional 4,410,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 242,552 shares of company stock worth $40,287,253. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $178.35 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.90 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $163.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet 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.