Align Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Align Financial LLC initiated a new position in Amazon during the fourth quarter, buying 1,686,371 shares valued at about $38.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased or opened stakes in AMZN, and institutions now hold 72.2% of Amazon’s shares, underscoring continued Wall Street interest.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: recent target hikes pushed Amazon’s consensus rating to “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $312.78, despite the stock being down 3.5% and facing regulatory and valuation concerns.

Align Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,686,371 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock, valued at approximately $38,925,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Altimeter Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Altimeter Capital Management LP now owns 2,215,660 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $511,419,000 after acquiring an additional 48,186 shares during the last quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $4,891,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. 14B Captial Management LP bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth about $1,385,000. 3G Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth about $30,007,000. Finally, 9823 Capital L.P. bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth about $17,008,000. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AMZN. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $275.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Fifty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.78.

Key Amazon.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon expanded its AI and cloud footprint at AWS, unveiling new AI agents and continuing to push “plumbing” for business AI use cases, which supports the long-term growth narrative. Amazon unveils new AI agents, trying to thread the needle between autonomy and human control
• Positive Sentiment: The company also invested in and partnered with Odyssey, an AI startup building world models, reinforcing Amazon’s interest in next-generation AI infrastructure. Amazon Teams With Newly-Minted Physical AI Unicorn Odyssey
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s AI executive said commercially useful quantum computers could arrive in 5–7 years, a signal that the company is investing early in a potentially important frontier technology. Amazon AI exec predicts first 'commercially useful' quantum computers in 5-7 years
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon also backed Odyssey’s $310 million funding round and gained access to the startup’s specialized chip resources through AWS, another sign of strategic AI spending. AI lab Odyssey valued at $1.45 billion in latest funding round
• Neutral Sentiment: Arianespace successfully launched 36 Amazon Leo satellites, a milestone for Amazon’s broadband constellation, but the move is still more of a long-term strategic update than an immediate earnings driver. The New Ariane 6 with 4 P160C Boosters Successfully Launches Amazon LEO Satellites
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are increasingly focused on a reported FTC action over Amazon’s advertising practices, with potential multibillion-dollar penalties creating a regulatory overhang. Amazon faces billions in penalties from potential FTC ad suit, Bloomberg News reports
• Negative Sentiment: AMZN also moved lower amid broader market weakness and a hawkish Fed tone, which pressured high-multiple growth stocks. Amazon Shares Dip As Fed Signals Hawkish Shift
• Negative Sentiment: Some articles also highlighted concern that Amazon’s AI spending remains large relative to near-term returns, adding valuation pressure. Bad News for NVIDIA, Amazon, and Microsoft: There’s No Longer Enough Cash for AI

Amazon.com Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AMZN opened at $237.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.00 and a 1 year high of $278.56. The firm's 50-day moving average is $255.43 and its 200-day moving average is $233.97.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 15,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.40, for a total value of $4,074,007.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,159 shares in the company, valued at $3,729,480.60. This trade represents a 52.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.42, for a total transaction of $5,268,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,205,766 shares in the company, valued at $581,042,879.72. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 195,774 shares of company stock worth $51,614,434 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

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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