Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Makes New $79.31 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 416,438 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $79,306,000. Alphabet comprises about 2.0% of Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % 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, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.01 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $186.78 and its 200 day moving average is $178.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.