Eastern Bank Sells 43,680 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Eastern Bank reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 427,149 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 43,680 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.7% of Eastern Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest 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 also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,919.4% during 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 period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,900.6% during 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 period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111,197.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 170,267,122 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,759.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 109,870,525 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $8,335,063,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $154.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.63 and a 1-year high of $160.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total transaction of $3,502,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,325,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,012,608.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,033,907. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $153.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.61.

About Alphabet

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.