Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Shares Acquired by Howland Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Howland Capital Management increased its Amazon stake by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 25,735 additional shares and bringing its total to 308,176 shares worth about $71.1 million.
• Several other large hedge funds also added to or initiated positions in Amazon, and institutional investors now own 72.2% of the company’s stock, signaling continued strong professional interest.
• Amazon’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $2.78 versus the $1.63 consensus and revenue of $181.52 billion; analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $312.78.

Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 308,176 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after purchasing an additional 25,735 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com comprises approximately 2.7% of Howland Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Howland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $71,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,868,735,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the first quarter valued at approximately $11,674,091,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 22,085.8% during the second 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 buying an additional 12,122,668 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 21.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 57,908,424 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $11,017,657,000 after buying an additional 10,176,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 11.3% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 94,284,962 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $20,702,362,000 after buying an additional 9,583,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Phillip Securities raised Amazon.com from a "moderate buy" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $280.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.78.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $7,562,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,361 shares in the company, valued at $129,624,275. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.53, for a total transaction of $2,489,273.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,060,750.70. The trade was a 18.37% 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 have sold 195,774 shares of company stock valued at $51,614,434 in the last three months. Insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Stock Down 1.2%

AMZN opened at $238.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.44. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.00 and a twelve month high of $278.56. The company's 50-day moving average price is $253.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.62.

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

Key Amazon.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon continues to strengthen its AI and cloud position, with reports saying its custom chips are seeing strong demand in AWS and that its growing AI capabilities could help drive long-term upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon expanded its logistics moat by launching less-than-truckload freight service for all U.S. businesses, which could improve its supply-chain offering and deepen its role in e-commerce infrastructure. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon also signed a major patent license agreement with InterDigital covering Prime Video and devices, removing legal uncertainty and reinforcing its streaming and devices ecosystem. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators remain constructive on Amazon’s long-term fundamentals, pointing to e-commerce efficiency, AWS AI dominance, and potential value in its Anthropic investment, but these are more long-term catalysts than immediate trading drivers. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried about Amazon’s heavy AI capital spending and new borrowing, which may pressure margins and free cash flow before the payback shows up. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market pieces note that Amazon has lagged the S&P 500 recently and that its valuation has been hit by concerns over capex and softer near-term sentiment. Article Title

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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