Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Has $1.74 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,235 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,890 shares during the period. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $1.58 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $166.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 40,435,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,734,442. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $164.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.66.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for 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%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total value of $5,742,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,555,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $451,452,029.28. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 228,070 shares of company stock worth $37,745,632 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.83.

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.