Custom Index Systems LLC Invests $1.61 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 11,504 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,607,000. Alphabet makes up 1.0% of Custom Index Systems LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hendershot Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 192,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,839,000 after buying an additional 2,949 shares during the period. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Blossom Wealth Management lifted its position in Alphabet by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 2,965 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Mendel Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $155.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.63 and a 1 year high of $160.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $145.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.00.

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.