Alberta Investment Management Corp Boosts Stake in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its Amazon stake by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 8,460 shares and bringing its total to 167,500 shares worth about $38.7 million.
• Amazon posted strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $2.78 versus the $1.63 consensus and revenue of $181.52 billion, up 16.6% year over year.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on AMZN, with several firms raising price targets and analysts giving the stock an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $312.78.

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 167,500 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after purchasing an additional 8,460 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $38,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,868,735,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 20,598.0% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 87,982,814 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $20,308,193,000 after buying an additional 87,557,736 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth about $11,674,091,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 879.4% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 27,862,400 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $6,431,199,000 after acquiring an additional 25,017,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 22,085.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,177,557 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $2,671,634,000 after acquiring an additional 12,122,668 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of AMZN opened at $244.39 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.00 and a 1-year high of $278.56. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $256.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.05.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $1.15. The firm had revenue of $181.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $177.28 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 12.22%.The business's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMZN. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.53, for a total value of $2,489,273.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,060,750.70. The trade was a 18.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $7,562,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,624,275. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,774 shares of company stock worth $51,614,434. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Amazon.com News

Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon is exploring selling Trainium AI chips to external data-center customers, which could open a new revenue stream and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Amazon CEO Jassy says company could sell AI chips, raising stakes for Nvidia, AMD
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s planned $10 billion Missouri data center buildout underscores rising AI infrastructure demand and suggests stronger AWS growth ahead. Should Amazon’s US$10 Billion Missouri AI Bet and Trainium Chip Sales Shift AMZN’s Cloud Narrative?
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and a $310 price target, framing Alexa+ and Prime Day as potential catalysts for adoption and sales growth. Amazon's Alexa AI Could Be The Real Prime Day Winner: Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Prime Day is expected to generate nearly $22 billion in gross merchandise value, offering a near-term retail lift and a showcase for Amazon’s AI shopping tools. Amazon Prime Day expected to generate nearly $22B in sales
• Positive Sentiment: Alexa+ is expanding internationally, including full rollout in Canada and availability in Brazil, which supports Amazon’s consumer AI monetization story. Here’s Why Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) is a Top Growth Stock to Buy According to Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s AWS unit won new business as Zelis selected AWS to automate healthcare pricing and payments, showing continued enterprise cloud momentum. Zelis Picks AWS to Automate Healthcare Pricing and Payments

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon's online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.

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