Costello Asset Management INC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.0% of Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings, 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 quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 487,435,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,785,809,000 after buying an additional 1,302,104 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 1,900.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 217,154,306 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,770,809,000 after acquiring an additional 206,300,042 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 111,197.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170,420,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,036,178,000 after acquiring an additional 170,267,122 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 118,576,618 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,271,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Truist Financial increased their price target on Alphabet from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.41.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2 %

GOOGL opened at $154.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.54. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.63 and a 52 week high of $160.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for 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 last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.