Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. purchased a new stake of 26,072 shares of Alphabet valued at approximately $8.18 million, representing about 1.0% of the firm's portfolio and its 22nd-largest holding.
• Insider selling has been notable recently: CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares (~$9.88 million), the CAO sold 955 shares, and insiders sold a total of 2,037,294 shares worth roughly $94.22 million over the past three months.
• Alphabet is making large AI bets—announcing plans to invest up to $40 billion in Anthropic (including an initial $10B cloud/compute commitment) and securing a classified Pentagon deal for its Gemini models—while analysts remain mostly bullish with an average price target near $351.73.

Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 26,072 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,000. Alphabet comprises 1.0% of Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Lynch Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at $856,605,814.08. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 2,037,294 shares of company stock valued at $94,216,897 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Pivotal Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $351.73.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google secured a classified AI agreement allowing the Pentagon to use its Gemini models for lawful government purposes — a win for Google Cloud/government revenue and credibility in secured AI deployments. Google signs classified AI deal with Pentagon
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet announced plans to invest up to $40B in Anthropic (including an initial $10B cloud/compute commitment), deepening its AI ecosystem and cloud demand — a major strategic bet that supports future AI monetization. Alphabet To Invest Up To $40 Billion In Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst previews ahead of Q1 earnings spotlight stronger AI-driven Search engagement and Cloud growth; consensus revenue ~$107B and AI investments could underpin upside vs. estimates. Earnings tomorrow is a near-term catalyst. Alphabet Q1 2026 Earnings Preview
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded commercial partnerships and infrastructure moves (Atlassian integrations, South Korea AI campus plans) reinforce GEMINI adoption and enterprise traction for Google Cloud. Atlassian deeper Google AI integration
• Neutral Sentiment: EU regulators gave guidance to help rivals access Google services under new rules — could change competitive dynamics but impacts depend on implementation details. Google gets pointers from EU regulators
• Neutral Sentiment: Headcount churn: top AI researchers continue leaving Big Tech to start funded AI startups — a long-term talent risk but also a sign of healthy innovation and ecosystem dynamism. Meta, Google, OpenAI among Big Tech firms seeing top staff leaving
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider selling and some institutional trimming have been reported, which can pressure sentiment even amid bullish headlines. Quiver Quantitative GOOGL data
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and policy risks remain: Australia is threatening a 2% levy on Big Tech if news deals aren't struck, and internal researcher pushback over military AI use could create reputational or operational headwinds. Australia to charge Big Tech companies 2% levy
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts warn rising depreciation/capex tied to AI infrastructure could compress near-term EPS despite revenue growth — a risk to post-earnings sentiment. Alphabet Q1: Depreciation pressures

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $348.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.49 and a 1 year high of $350.90. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $309.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.19. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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