Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Acquires 1,238 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.7% of Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings, 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.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB raised its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 306,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $51,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718 shares during the period. Parthenon LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 139,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,297,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 38,858 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,882 shares of company stock worth $17,934,130 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $164.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.13 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $187.92 and its 200 day moving average is $177.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.