Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $6.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $166.64. 75,073,701 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,587,197. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $164.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.72. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,070 shares of company stock worth $37,745,632 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.