Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 7,696 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,145,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,696 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 4.6% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $390,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,508 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Financial Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Financial Planning LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,842 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the sale, the director owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. New Street Research cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $455.00 to $405.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.38.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic investment and cloud ties could add value. Alphabet plans to invest $10 billion in Anthropic at its IPO, on top of prior commitments. Anthropic also has large Google Cloud infrastructure commitments, potentially supporting cloud revenue and giving Alphabet a valuable stake if the IPO valuation holds. Those gains remain contingent on the offering and valuation. Article: Anthropic’s Trillion-Dollar IPO Could Give Cloud Giants a Double Win
• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding its AI hardware and model lineup. New TPU variants target confidential computing and larger AI workloads, potentially helping Google Cloud compete and reduce reliance on outside chips. Google also made Gemini 4 Carbon available to developers and businesses. Article: Google broadens its AI hardware portfolio with two new specialized chips Article: Google Launches Gemini 4 Carbon
• Neutral Sentiment: Pixel Tag adds a new consumer product. Google’s $30 item tracker is now available for Android users, but its effect on Alphabet’s overall results is likely limited. Article: Pixel Tag is now available
• Negative Sentiment: Investors face renewed securities-fraud lawsuit headlines. Multiple law firms publicized a pending class action alleging misleading statements about the Gemini 3.5 Pro launch timeline. The lead-plaintiff deadline is December 1. The notices are largely legal solicitations, but the underlying allegations can add uncertainty and reputational risk. Article: Alphabet securities-fraud lawsuit deadline
• Negative Sentiment: AI competition is intensifying. Anthropic is reportedly developing workplace tools, including a spreadsheet product that could compete with Google Sheets, while its Claude assistant is expanding into Google Meet. This highlights both competitive pressure and the risk of depending on a partner that also competes with Google. Article: Anthropic brings Claude to Google Meet
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo faces a safety and privacy overhang. Federal scrutiny over robotaxis’ school-bus behavior and added privacy protections related to Spirit Airlines employee data create regulatory and reputational risks. Article: Federal Government Probes Waymo Over School-Bus Safety

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $284.92 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $327.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $336.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $271.41 and a 12-month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by ($0.89). Alphabet had a net margin of 50.03% and a return on equity of 43.33%. The business had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.87 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Investors of record on Monday, December 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 4.59%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet is a technology holding company whose primary business is Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google became part of Alphabet when the company adopted a holding-company structure in 2015. Sundar Pichai leads Alphabet and Google as chief executive officer. Google offers internet search, online advertising, cloud computing, and software and hardware products. Its services and products include Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Cloud.