True North Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 38,822 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• True North Advisors LLC invested approximately $6.07 million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), acquiring 38,822 shares which make up about 1.1% of their portfolio.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for over $6.3 million, resulting in a 1.29% decrease in his ownership of the company.
• Alphabet plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%.

True North Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 38,822 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,065,000. Alphabet makes up about 1.1% of True North Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $26,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $4.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $202.11. 24,354,150 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,707,132. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $181.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.52. The company has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet 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.