B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 151,400 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 18,997 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.9% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $4.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 37,917,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,780,742. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company's 50 day moving average is $158.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.76. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.