Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Sells 2,616,653 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group cut its Amazon stake by 59.6%, selling 2.62 million shares and retaining 1.77 million shares valued at approximately $422.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 72.2% of Amazon.
• Amazon reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.75 versus $1.82 expected and revenue of $200.61 billion, up 19.6% year over year. The stock opened at $246.15, below its 50-day moving average.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive: 56 analysts rate Amazon a Buy and three rate it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $321.19.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. reduced its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,771,823 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 2,616,653 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com makes up approximately 1.1% of Alyeska Investment Group L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Alyeska Investment Group L.P.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $422,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Amazon.com during the second quarter worth about $22,218,775,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Amazon.com in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,341,405,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Amazon.com by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,604,857 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $13,757,993,000 after acquiring an additional 1,879,630 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Amazon.com in the second quarter worth approximately $12,831,376,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Amazon.com by 14.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 61,400,503 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $12,787,883,000 after acquiring an additional 7,590,952 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amazon.com Stock Down 1.4%

AMZN stock opened at $246.15 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $256.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.44. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.00 and a fifty-two week high of $287.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $3.93. Amazon.com had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $200.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Andrew 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Douglas Herrington sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.77, for a total value of $254,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 475,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $121,189,248.37. This represents a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 71,589 shares of company stock valued at $18,568,785 over the last 90 days. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMZN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $335.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $390.00 price objective (up from $280.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Fifty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $321.19.

Amazon.com News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Adobe expects U.S. consumers to spend approximately $10 billion during Amazon’s October Prime Day, contributing to a projected record $275 billion U.S. holiday shopping season. Higher online spending could support fourth-quarter sales, although aggressive retailer promotions may pressure margins. Amazon Has a $10 Billion Holiday Catalyst Coming in October
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to point to accelerating AWS growth, a large contracted backlog and rising AI-related cloud demand. Commentary that Amazon’s AI capital expenditures are beginning to generate returns supports the long-term bull case for AWS. I'd Buy Amazon Stock While It Sits 12% Below Its Record
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon is expanding its strategic footprint through robotics in India, low-carbon data-center infrastructure and its Leo satellite network. These initiatives could strengthen logistics, cloud infrastructure and future connectivity businesses, though they require substantial investment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon’s comparison with Alibaba highlights that both companies are making major AI and cloud investments. The key differentiator for investors is whether AWS growth and profitability can justify Amazon’s spending pace.
• Negative Sentiment: Cheaper Anthropic Claude models are raising questions about AWS Bedrock pricing. Lower prices could reduce revenue per AI call, even if they stimulate greater usage and overall cloud consumption. Amazon Stock Falls as Cheaper Claude Tests Bedrock Elasticity
• Negative Sentiment: Senate Democrats are seeking information from Amazon and other technology companies about tax subsidies for AI and data-center development, creating potential regulatory and political uncertainty around future incentives. Sen. Warren Questions AI Tax Subsidies
• Negative Sentiment: A U.K. consumer lawsuit alleging that Apple and Amazon restricted competition in Apple-product sales was allowed to proceed in part, adding to Amazon’s legal and antitrust exposure. Apple and Amazon Face Revived UK Consumer Lawsuit

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc is a global technology and commerce company that operates online marketplaces, physical stores, and a broad portfolio of digital and cloud-based services. The company offers consumer products across categories such as electronics, household goods, apparel, groceries, and entertainment, while also providing third-party sellers with tools for listing, selling, and fulfilling orders.

Amazon's major businesses include Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provides cloud computing, storage, database, analytics, and artificial intelligence services; Prime, a membership program that includes shipping, streaming, and other benefits; and digital entertainment services such as Prime Video, Amazon Music, Kindle, and Audible.

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