Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Shares Sold by Vulcan Value Partners LLC

Key Points

• Vulcan Value Partners cut its Amazon stake by 37.8% in the second quarter, selling 603,110 shares and retaining 992,758 shares valued at approximately $236.6 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds still own 72.2% of Amazon.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 56 Buy ratings and three Holds; Amazon has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $322.86, while several firms recently raised their targets.
• Amazon reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including $5.75 in EPS and $200.61 billion in revenue, up 19.6% year over year. However, company insiders—including two CEOs—sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.

Vulcan Value Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 37.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 992,758 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 603,110 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com comprises approximately 7.2% of Vulcan Value Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Vulcan Value Partners LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $236,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMZN. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Amazon.com by 5.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,766,561 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $644,737,000 after acquiring an additional 130,523 shares during the last quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Amazon.com by 0.4% in the second quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,337 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $5,085,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 28.4% in the 2nd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 789,836 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $186,679,000 after purchasing an additional 174,854 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 382,114 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $89,206,000 after purchasing an additional 5,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth $672,780,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMZN. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 target price (up from $355.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. HSBC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Pivotal Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $333.00 price target (up from $320.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price target (up from $315.00) 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 issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $322.86.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of Amazon.com stock opened at $259.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $258.64 and a 200 day moving average of $249.45. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.00 and a 12 month high of $287.20.

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

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 14,541 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.06, for a total transaction of $3,766,991.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,609,713.64. This represents a 44.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Douglas Herrington sold 6,362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total transaction of $1,647,821.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,465,145.81. This trade represents a 1.32% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,589 shares of company stock valued at $18,580,515. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see AWS and Amazon’s AI services as major growth drivers. AWS sales reportedly rose 37% to $42.2 billion, while Amazon’s AI business surpassed a $25 billion annual revenue run rate. Analysts also view AI agents as potentially increasing commerce activity rather than undermining Amazon’s model. Amazon AI Boom
• Positive Sentiment: The FCC is preparing to vote on auctioning prime spectrum for satellite-to-smartphone services, a move that could benefit Amazon’s satellite ambitions and expand future connectivity opportunities. FCC Spectrum Auction
• Positive Sentiment: Prime Big Deal Days provides a near-term test of consumer demand and a potential boost to fourth-quarter retail sales. Amazon is also expanding Prime Video’s reach through a six-year global deal to stream the Emmy Awards free to viewers, supporting advertising and audience growth. Amazon Emmy Streaming Deal
• Positive Sentiment: ARK Invest reportedly purchased approximately $31 million of Amazon shares, adding a supportive institutional-investor signal. ARK Invest Buys Amazon
• Neutral Sentiment: A proposed structure involving roughly $8 billion of Nvidia chips could help Amazon finance AI infrastructure and preserve capital flexibility, but it also underscores the substantial cost and financing burden of the AWS expansion. Amazon Nvidia Chip Financing
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that aggressive AI capital spending could pressure free cash flow before new data centers generate sufficient returns. Rising interest rates, power constraints and possible delays in infrastructure deployment add to the risk. Amazon Data Center Spending Risks
• Negative Sentiment: Prime Big Deal Days is occurring amid weak consumer confidence, creating uncertainty over the strength and profitability of promotional sales. Public attention to Amazon’s highly detailed customer profiles could also create privacy-related reputational risk. Amazon Customer Profiles

About Amazon.com

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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