Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 427,149 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 43,680 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.7% of Eastern Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $59,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1,919.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 477,035,902 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,628,484,000 after purchasing an additional 453,413,389 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1,900.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 217,154,306 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,770,809,000 after purchasing an additional 206,300,042 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 111,197.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170,420,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,036,178,000 after buying an additional 170,267,122 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Alphabet by 1,759.2% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 116,116,066 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,106,502,000 after buying an additional 109,870,525 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,335,063,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,033,907. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.61.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $154.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.02. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.63 and a 12 month high of $160.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

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.