Eastern Bank Sells 1,663 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Eastern Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,663 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,927,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182,111 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,511,477,000 after buying an additional 2,428,266 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,022,926,000 after acquiring an additional 441,177 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,272,146,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117,990 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,503,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,588,323,000 after acquiring an additional 695,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong commercial traction for Gemini AI — reports show a surge in sales of Gemini models, supporting Alphabet’s AI revenue thesis and cloud monetization outlook. Google Sees Surge in Sales of Gemini AI Models
• Positive Sentiment: Usage growth: Gemini API calls have more than doubled in recent months, indicating rising developer and enterprise adoption that should help drive ad and cloud revenue over time. Gemini Usage Explodes as API Calls More than Double in Five Months
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street bullishness: several analysts raised targets this week (examples: UBS $345, RBC to $375, BofA $370), reinforcing upside expectations tied to AI advertising and cloud momentum. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $345 Price Target RBC Raises Alphabet (GOOGL) Target on AI Advertising Momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector moves: Goldman and other banks are broadly boosting tech price targets, a tailwind for sentiment but not an immediate catalyst for price action. Goldman Sachs Raising Price Targets 10%+ on Tech and Financial Blue Chip Giants
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive longer-term narrative: multiple pieces highlight strong Q4 results, a large AI-driven cloud backlog and historical shareholder returns, supporting a constructive medium-term case. Investors’ Confidence Boosted Alphabet (GOOG) in Q4
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/headline risk: President Trump’s tariff rhetoric (Greenland) and EU tariff talk spurred a tech-led selloff that pressured GOOG alongside peers — a short-term headwind unrelated to fundamentals. NVDA, GOOGL, AMZN: Trump’s Greenland Gambit Rattles Big Tech as EU Weighs Salvo
• Negative Sentiment: Outperformance fade / profit-taking: coverage noted Alphabet fell more than the broader market today, reflecting profit-taking after strong 2025 gains. Here’s Why Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Fell More Than Broader Market
• Negative Sentiment: Isomorphic Labs delay: Google-backed drug-discovery unit pushed its first clinical trials to late 2026, trimming a speculative long-term upside driver. Google-backed AI drug discovery startup Isomorphic Labs delays clinical trial timeline
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling highlighted by data services (large recent insider disposals) can amplify short-term caution among some investors. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $345 Price Target (insider data)

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Alphabet from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $321.97.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total value of $10,439,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,914,730.12. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,687 shares of company stock valued at $58,728,068. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.5%

GOOG opened at $322.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $341.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $313.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $258.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

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.