Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Mechanics Bank Trust Department

Mechanics Bank Trust Department lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,769 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,813 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Meritas Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.0% in the third quarter. Meritas Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 7,208 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Loop Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.18.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets boost upside expectations for GOOG, with Canaccord and others lifting targets well above prior levels — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Canaccord Raises PT to $390
• Positive Sentiment: AI product momentum: reports show Gemini gaining share versus ChatGPT and Gemini-powered features rolling into Gmail at scale — this supports stronger ad/search monetization and cloud expectations. Gemini Gains Market Share
• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap milestone: Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world’s No.2 public company — a sign of investor confidence that can attract index/ETF flows and reinforce momentum. Alphabet Surpasses Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Wiz acquisition pending EU approval by Feb.10 — approval would remove a large M&A overhang; rejection would be a setback. Outcome is material but binary. EU to Decide on Wiz Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo branding/product updates signal long-term autonomy growth but limited near-term EPS impact; watch commercialization cadence. Waymo Rebrands Robotaxi
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/reputational pressure: three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to suspend X and Grok from their app stores over sexualized images of minors created via AI — a headline that raises moderation/regulatory scrutiny for app stores and Google’s ecosystem. Senators Call to Suspend X and Grok
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure from AI products: Alphabet and Character.AI settled suits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors (including a teen suicide), underscoring potential costs, regulation and reputational risk. AI Lawsuit Settlements
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and talent movement: CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed a multi-million-dollar share sale; separately, Nvidia hired a Google marketing veteran — both can weigh on near-term sentiment and raise questions about insider cashing and talent retention. Pichai Share Sale

Alphabet Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $329.29 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $331.48. The company has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $306.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,884.14. The trade was a 19.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 227,965 shares of company stock worth $67,495,822 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.