Eastern Bank Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Eastern Bank reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,452 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 6,793,637 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,205,123,000 after buying an additional 176,604 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 18,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,352,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 173,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 44,559 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,904,000 after purchasing an additional 7,831 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $244.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $256.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $227.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,425,799.04. This trade represents a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,258.92. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 276,338 shares of company stock valued at $59,062,683 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.