Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $293.45 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,536,791 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $293,454,000. Alphabet accounts for about 1.7% of Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $147.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.54 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.