Truist Financial Corp Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Truist Financial Corp reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,793,314 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 38,155 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.1% of Truist Financial Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $695,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the second quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% in the second quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the second quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the second quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.1% in the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $167.19 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $121.46 and a 12 month high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.74, for a total transaction of $4,201,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,227,385 shares in the company, valued at $415,941,874.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.74, for a total transaction of $4,201,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,227,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $415,941,874.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 216,225 shares of company stock valued at $36,134,681 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.29.

Alphabet Company 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.