Costello Asset Management INC Has $5.86 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Costello Asset Management INC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,971 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.9% 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 $5,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Denver PWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $185.34 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $191.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.61. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.