Costello Asset Management INC Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Costello Asset Management INC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.0% of Costello Asset Management INC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spreng Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% in the first quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,878,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 296 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Private Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weik Capital Management boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Weik Capital Management now owns 1,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,264,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Mizuho lifted their target price on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $154.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.54. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.63 and a 12-month high of $160.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

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.