Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,611,862 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 30,326 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.9% of Truist Financial Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $564,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.38.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $180.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.49. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.

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