IMS Capital Management Invests $2.33 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• IMS Capital Management invested approximately $2.33 million in Alphabet Inc. during the 2nd quarter, acquiring 13,207 shares, which represents about 1.1% of their investment portfolio.
• During the 1st quarter, several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Alphabet, including Nuveen LLC, which bought a new position worth over $4.3 billion.
• Alphabet's stock has experienced various analyst rating changes, with Moffett Nathanson raising their target price from $230 to $295, while the overall analyst consensus shows a "Moderate Buy" rating.

IMS Capital Management acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,207 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,327,000. Alphabet makes up about 1.1% of IMS Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 307.6% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,302,644 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,593,201,000 after purchasing an additional 7,774,811 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,783,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Alphabet by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,034,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.44.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $246.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $215.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.14. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $256.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.

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