B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. has decreased its investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 28.2% during the third quarter of the year. According to the latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the fund's total holdings include 122,442 shares after selling 48,097 shares in the quarter. This reduction means Alphabet now constitutes 0.6% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s total investment portfolio, making it the 26th largest holding within the fund’s investments. The value of its holdings in Alphabet is approximately $20,472,000, as per the most recent SEC disclosure.

Changes by Other Investors

Other institutional investors also modified their positions in Alphabet recently. ERn Financial LLC boosted its shareholding in Alphabet by 2.9% in the second quarter, bringing its total shares to 3,924, valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares. Similarly, Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake by 10.1%, now holding 18,072 shares valued at $3,315,000 after acquiring 1,663 shares. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings by 1.8%, owning 57,105 shares worth $10,510,000 after adding 1,001 shares. Blue Trust Inc. enhanced its position in Alphabet by 8.5%, now owning 20,626 shares valued at $3,783,000 after purchasing 1,621 shares. Lastly, Brookstone Capital Management increased its investment by 7.4%, holding 54,495 shares worth $9,952,000 after buying 3,753 shares. Currently, about 27.26% of Alphabet's stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news about Alphabet, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares on December 12 at an average price of $194.22, totaling approximately $291,330. After this transaction, Hennessy now directly holds 23,324 shares valued at around $4,529,987.28, marking a decrease of 6.04% in his position. Moreover, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares on December 10 at an average price of $185.02, resulting in a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following this sale, Shriram retains 282,832 shares valued at about $52,329,576.64, reflecting an 11.61% decrease in his ownership. Over the last three months, insiders sold a total of 198,623 shares of Alphabet valued at $34,413,006. Insiders possess about 12.99% of Alphabet’s total shares.

Analysts Provide Price Predictions

Several research analysts have recently provided insights regarding Alphabet's stock. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating as of November 1. DA Davidson also upgraded the stock to a "hold" rating in a report released on September 10. Furthermore, Scotiabank initiated coverage, assigning a "sector outperform" rating and setting a price target of $212.00. Jefferies Financial Group raised its price target from $220.00 to $235.00, also classifying Alphabet as a “buy.” Seaport Res Ptn upgraded the stock from “hold” to “strong-buy.” The current consensus rating is "Moderate Buy," with an average target price of $200.56, supported by five analysts rating it as a hold, thirteen as a buy, and three as a strong buy.

Alphabet's Recent Stock Performance

As of Friday, GOOG stock opened at $191.38. The stock has seen a 52-week range, hitting a low of $131.06 and a high of $196.89. Alphabet Inc. has a market cap of approximately $2.34 trillion, with a PE ratio of 25.38. The company's average price-to-earnings-growth ratio stands at 1.38, and it has a beta of 1.02. Recent trading reports indicate that its 50-day moving average price is $173.20, while its 200-day moving average is $172.23. Financial indicators reveal a debt-to-equity ratio of just 0.04 and both quick and current ratios are at 1.95.

Recent Earnings Report

Alphabet shared its latest earnings results on October 29, reporting earnings of $2.12 per share for the quarter, which surpassed analysts’ expectations of $1.83 by $0.29. The company achieved a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Its total revenue hit $88.27 billion, also exceeding analysts’ estimates of $86.39 billion. In the same quarter last year, Alphabet reported EPS of $1.55, indicating a 15.1% growth in revenue year over year. Analysts project that Alphabet will generate earnings per share of 8.02 for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Information from Alphabet

Alphabet has recently announced a quarterly dividend to be paid on December 16, with an amount of $0.20 per share for shareholders on record as of December 9. The ex-dividend date is also December 9, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 0.42%, totaling $0.80 in dividends. Currently, the dividend payout ratio stands at 10.61%.

Overview of Alphabet Inc.

Alphabet Inc. operates through various segments, providing a wide range of products and services across the globe including North America, Europe, Asia, and other regions. It functions through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets divisions. The Google Services segment offers diverse services such as ads, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

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