Costello Asset Management INC Buys 267 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,638 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.4% of Costello Asset Management INC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,279,000 after purchasing an additional 41,880 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 70.5% during the first quarter. City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. now owns 185,415 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,961,000 after buying an additional 76,650 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,144,172,000 after buying an additional 4,064,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,093,974 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,113,000 after buying an additional 37,798 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $164.76 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $167.64 and a 200-day moving average of $170.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.