Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.7% of Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after acquiring an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 306,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $51,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718 shares during the period. Parthenon LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the third quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 139,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,297,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.0% in the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 38,858 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,882 shares of company stock worth $17,934,130 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $164.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $187.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

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.