AE Wealth Management LLC Acquires 8,341 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC raised its Alphabet stake by 8.9%, buying an additional 8,341 shares to hold 101,734 shares worth about $31.92 million.
• Other institutions made large moves—JPMorgan added roughly 7.9 million shares and firms like Danske, Holocene, AllianceBernstein and Mercer increased positions—leaving institutional investors with 27.26% ownership while insiders sold about 2.04 million shares (~$94.2M).
• Analysts are broadly positive (average rating Buy, average price target $351.73); Alphabet recently beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.82, revenue $113.8B) and announced a strategic commitment of up to $40 billion to AI partner Anthropic, boosting bullish sentiment.

AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,734 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,341 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $678,198,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $455,745,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,749,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,203 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 208.0% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,130,681 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $273,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177,855 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $348.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $351.73.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google confirmed a planned up to $40 billion commitment to AI startup Anthropic — $10B invested now and up to $30B contingent on performance — signaling a deep strategic partnership that should drive Google Cloud revenue, TPU demand and long‑term AI market share. PYMNTS: Google Doubles Down on Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Market and media reaction pushed GOOGL coverage higher today: outlets and traders flagged the deal as bullish for Google Cloud, TPU sales and infrastructure partners, contributing to the stock uptick. Blockonomi: Stock Climbs on $40B Anthropic Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent fundamentals and AI product momentum (Gemini, TPU launches, Cloud partnerships) give investors confidence the Anthropic deal can translate into higher monetization and ad/search engagement — analysts have raised targets and reiterated buys ahead of Q1 earnings. ProactiveInvestors: Buy Rating Ahead of Q1
• Neutral Sentiment: The additional $30B is contingent on milestones — positive if targets are met, but it spreads the cash out over time and ties part of the commitment to execution risk and market conditions. TechCrunch: Google to Invest Up to $40B in Anthropic
• Neutral Sentiment: Global AI competition is intensifying (including from Chinese players) — this validates demand but keeps pricing and product dynamics uncertain. Yahoo Finance: China’s DeepSeek Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: the EU is pressing Google to give AI rivals access to Android features — any mandated access could weaken parts of Google’s mobile moat and limit competitive advantage for Gemini on Android. PYMNTS: EU Pressure on Android Access
• Negative Sentiment: Scale of AI spending and infrastructure roll‑outs raises CapEx and free‑cash‑flow pressure; investors should watch upcoming Q1 results and FCF guidance for signs the investments are converting into profitable growth. Seeking Alpha: Q1 Preview — CapEx Risks

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,037,294 shares of company stock worth $94,216,897. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of GOOG opened at $342.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.49 and a 1 year high of $350.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $305.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.