Costello Asset Management INC Has $11.76 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Costello Asset Management INC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 66,738 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 384 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 4.4% of Costello Asset Management INC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,619 shares in the company, valued at $592,760,192.85. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $288.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.24.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $253.30 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $231.55 and its 200 day moving average is $192.14. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet 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.