IMS Capital Management Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• IMS Capital Management purchased 34,100 shares of Alphabet Inc. during Q2, valued at approximately $6,049,000, making it the firm's 7th largest holding.
• Insider trading activity includes sales from Director Kavitark Ram Shriram and CEO Sundar Pichai, who sold a combined 47,500 shares worth over $10 million.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings surpassed analysts' expectations with a reported $2.31 EPS and revenue of $96.43 billion, marking a 13.8% increase year-over-year.

IMS Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 34,100 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,049,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of IMS Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. ACT Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the second quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. LongView Wealth Management boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% during the second quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Kooman & Associates boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 4,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% during the first quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Private Trust Co. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the second quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 9,956 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,766,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $598,149,304. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $247.83 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $256.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $214.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $183.18.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. KeyCorp set a $265.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.35.

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.

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