Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co Makes New $5.10 Million Investment in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Alesco Advisors acquired a new $5.1 million Amazon stake in the second quarter, buying 21,400 shares. Amazon represents about 0.1% of the firm’s portfolio, while institutional investors collectively own 72.2% of the stock.
• Amazon reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.75 versus the $1.82 consensus and revenue of $200.61 billion, up 19.6% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $323.26.
• Insiders have sold 71,589 shares worth approximately $18.6 million over the past 90 days, including CEO Andy Jassy’s $5.18 million sale. Amazon shares recently traded near $256.97, below the 12-month high of $287.20.

Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 21,400 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock, valued at approximately $5,100,000. Amazon.com accounts for about 0.1% of Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 832,274,556 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $158,348,557,000 after buying an additional 8,913,959 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Amazon.com by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 388,653,121 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $89,708,913,000 after acquiring an additional 6,971,680 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 225,120,994 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $51,753,622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479,324 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,868,735,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Amazon.com by 27,376.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 98,448,885 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $2,272,397,000 after acquiring an additional 98,090,585 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total value of $5,180,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,235,766 shares in the company, valued at $579,085,751.66. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,343 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total value of $606,860.43. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 119,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,024,217.80. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,568,785 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN opened at $256.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.44. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $254.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $243.41. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.00 and a 12 month high of $287.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $3.93. The company had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%.Amazon.com's revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $335.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $338.00 price objective (up from $328.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Evercore set a $355.00 price objective on Amazon.com and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $323.26.

Key Stories Impacting Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: AWS expands its custom-chip strategy. Amazon and Qualcomm announced a multi-generation collaboration to develop customized AI data-center silicon, initially focused on AWS inference, along with optical-connectivity solutions of up to 1.6T. The agreement diversifies Amazon’s supply chain beyond Nvidia, Broadcom and its internally developed Trainium chips, while supporting AWS’s long-term AI infrastructure buildout. Qualcomm Announces Multi-Generational Product Collaboration with Amazon
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability remains a key investment argument. Commentary highlighted AWS’s roughly 39% operating margin and recent acceleration in cloud growth as reasons investors may view Amazon’s valuation as attractive, particularly with the stock trading near its 50-day moving average and below its recent high. Amazon’s AWS Operating Margin
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is preparing a sterling bond offering. The company has hired banks for its first sterling-denominated bond sale, apparently seeking additional funding sources for major AI and infrastructure investments. The move may improve financing flexibility, but it also underscores the scale of Amazon’s capital requirements. Amazon Hires Banks for First Sterling Bond Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Fatal Prime Air crash increases operational and reputational risk. Federal investigators are examining why a contractor-operated Boeing 767 cargo jet overshot the Miami runway by about 1,300 feet, killing five people. The investigation could bring additional scrutiny to Amazon Air’s contractor oversight, logistics practices and potential liability. Investigators Probe Amazon Cargo Plane Crash
• Negative Sentiment: Employment lawsuit adds legal and regulatory uncertainty. Four former warehouse workers allege Amazon discriminated against pregnant employees by penalizing medically necessary breaks and absences. The class-action complaint could create litigation costs and renewed scrutiny of warehouse labor policies. Amazon Sued for Allegedly Discriminating Against Pregnant Workers

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc is a global technology and e-commerce company that operates online marketplaces and provides a broad range of consumer products and services. Its retail business sells merchandise directly to customers and enables third-party sellers to offer products through Amazon's websites and applications. The company also operates physical stores and provides services such as digital content, subscriptions, and consumer devices, including Kindle and Echo products.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides cloud computing, storage, database, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technology services to businesses, governments, and organizations.

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.