B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 28,038 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,397 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 28,038 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $191.41. The company had a trading volume of 62,697,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,725,518. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $201.42. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $173.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,590,960. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.