Grove Bank & Trust Sells 3,665 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Grove Bank & Trust reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,665 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Grove Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the second 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,749,864,000 after buying an additional 2,209,203 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,583,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,935,671,000 after buying an additional 223,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,625,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,971,769,000 after acquiring an additional 539,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind expands robotics AI work—Alphabet’s DeepMind will integrate Gemini Robotics foundation models with Agile Robots’ hardware, advancing robotics capabilities and supporting long‑term AI monetization and product leadership. Google partners with Agile Robots, growing its AI robotics footprint
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini commerce rollout—Gap will enable checkout inside Google’s Gemini, a sign that Alphabet is starting to capture direct commerce revenue and broaden Gemini’s commercial use cases. That supports the AI monetization narrative. Gap becomes the first major fashion company to offer checkout within Google’s Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism remains—Wall Street price targets and buy ratings stay elevated (median targets well above the current price), which provides upside support over a multi‑month horizon. Alphabet Stock (GOOG) Opinions on Earnings Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Cloud business wins and partnerships—BMO/CME plan tokenized cash on Google Cloud and other enterprise collaborations continue to validate cloud demand, but revenue timing and margins will matter. BMO to launch tokenized cash platform with CME and Google Cloud
• Neutral Sentiment: New operational initiatives—Wing’s planned drone deliveries in the SF Bay Area and other hardware efforts show progress but will require continued capital and regulatory approvals. Alphabet’s Wing to start drone delivery in San Francisco Bay Area
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational constraints flagged—Alphabet executives warned the U.S. may need more power development to scale AI data centers, highlighting capex and infrastructure dependency. CERAWEEK US needs more energy development to power AI, Google president says
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reporting appears noisy—several data sources show large short‑interest changes but the published figures (0 shares) are likely reporting errors; treat short‑interest signals with caution.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny—EU antitrust officials are meeting with Alphabet’s CEO amid growing scrutiny of Big Tech’s AI power, a near‑term headwind that can increase uncertainty and re‑rate multiples. EU antitrust chief meets Google, Meta, OpenAI, Amazon CEOs amidst AI scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Technical weakness—traders are pointing to a head‑and‑shoulders breakdown and failing support levels, which can amplify selling in the short term as algorithmic and momentum funds react. Alphabet Stock (GOOGL) Opinions on Technical Breakdown and AI Developments
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling—public data shows significant insider sales by executives over recent months, which can be interpreted negatively by some investors even if sales are for diversification or compensation reasons. Alphabet Stock (GOOG) Opinions on Earnings Release

Alphabet Stock Down 3.3%

GOOG stock opened at $289.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $350.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $316.04 and a 200 day moving average of $294.86.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $345.71.

Alphabet Profile

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.