TrueWealth Advisors LLC Invests $229,000 in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• TrueWealth Advisors LLC purchased 1,291 shares of Alphabet Inc. valued at approximately $229,000 during the second quarter, adding to the growing interest from institutional investors in the company.
• Insider sales included notable transactions by John Kent Walker and CEO Sundar Pichai, which saw them sell significant quantities of stock, decreasing their positions by 35.65% and 1.30%, respectively.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, scheduled for September 15, reflecting a low payout ratio of 8.95% and a yield of 0.3%.

TrueWealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,291 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $251.42. 24,479,119 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,979,295. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $204.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.48. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $253.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.