Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Holdings Cut by Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Castle Rock Wealth Management reduced its Amazon stake by 10.9% in the third quarter, selling 4,017 shares and retaining 32,991 shares valued at approximately $8.46 million.
• Institutional investors own 72.2% of Amazon, while analysts remain broadly bullish: 56 rate the stock a Buy, three rate it Hold, and the consensus price target is $322.53.
• Amazon’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with $5.75 in earnings per share and $200.61 billion in revenue, but investors are weighing strong AWS and AI growth against heavy capital spending, free-cash-flow concerns and broader pressure on technology stocks.

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,991 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 4,017 shares during the period. Amazon.com makes up approximately 1.6% of Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $8,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 411,848,346 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $95,504,904,000 after acquiring an additional 21,398,025 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the second quarter worth approximately $22,218,775,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the second quarter worth approximately $16,341,405,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 3.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 63,822,242 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $15,211,393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,421,739 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,604,857 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $13,757,993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,879,630 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMZN has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up from $355.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $293.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $333.00 price objective (up from $320.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Fifty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $322.53.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $250.00 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.00 and a 1-year high of $287.20. The stock's 50-day moving average is $256.75 and its 200 day moving average is $251.57. The company has a market cap of $2.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $3.93. The firm had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. Research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Amazon.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AWS remains the central growth and profit driver. Amazon’s cloud business grew at its fastest pace in 18 quarters during the second quarter, and investors will focus closely on whether that momentum continued. Strong AWS growth could support a higher valuation. Amazon earnings outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Amazon as a major beneficiary of AI adoption through AWS, custom chips and related products. The company’s AI initiatives could improve future cash flow, while strong holiday e-commerce demand and a growing advertising business provide additional support. Amazon AI cash flow outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s acquisition of Bee is expanding its consumer AI strategy. New Bee Frontier and Bee Eclipse devices, along with a paid software tier, give the company new opportunities in hardware, subscriptions and AI-assisted shopping. Amazon Bee AI devices
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon has scheduled its third-quarter results and conference call for Oct. 29. The report is likely to be the next major catalyst, particularly for AWS growth, capital expenditures, operating margins and management’s AI investment outlook. Amazon earnings announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Broad technology stocks are under pressure as inflation concerns increase expectations for higher interest rates, prompting investors to favor value and dividend-paying sectors. That market-wide rotation is weighing on mega-cap technology names, including AMZN. Technology sector decline
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Amazon’s roughly $220 billion AI commitment and rising capital expenditures may pressure near-term free cash flow. Capacity constraints and potentially falling AI-compute pricing add to doubts about the return on that spending.
• Negative Sentiment: Elon Musk’s proposal for an “X Shop” or “Grokazon” introduces a potential long-term competitive risk after Amazon blocked some AI shopping agents. The issue could encourage rivals to challenge Amazon’s position in agent-driven commerce. Potential Amazon rival

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.77, for a total value of $2,404,950.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 41,190 shares in the company, valued at $10,699,926.30. This represents a 18.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $579,085,751.66. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,589 shares of company stock valued at $18,580,515. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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