Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 416,438 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $79,306,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.0% of Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after acquiring an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $927,000. Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 44.2% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,032,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $172,620,000 after acquiring an additional 316,674 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.57 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $186.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.01 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.