Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Stock: Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake

Key Points

• Birch Hill Investment Advisors reduced its Amazon stake by 2.1% in the third quarter, selling 11,753 shares and retaining 534,992 shares valued at approximately $133.3 million. Amazon remains the firm’s second-largest holding and represents 5.8% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 72.2% of Amazon, while company insiders own 8.9%; insiders sold 71,589 shares worth about $18.6 million over the past three months, including sales by CEO Matthew Garman and SVP David Zapolsky under 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: 57 analysts rate Amazon “Buy” and three rate it “Hold,” producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $325.12. Recent targets range from $300 to $375, despite concerns over heavy AI infrastructure spending and its effect on margins and cash flow.

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 534,992 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 11,753 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises approximately 5.8% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $133,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TOP Private Wealth LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Atomic Invest LLC increased its stake in Amazon.com by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter. Atomic Invest LLC now owns 168 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth about $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 14,541 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.06, for a total value of $3,766,991.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,713.64. This trade represents a 44.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,258 shares of Amazon.com 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,190 shares in the company, valued at $10,699,926.30. The trade was a 18.35% 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 71,589 shares of company stock valued at $18,580,515 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AMZN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Yorkville Ives began coverage on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Monday, October 19th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $320.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Fifty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $325.12.

Trending Headlines about Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: AWS growth is the central bullish argument. Analysts expect strong cloud acceleration, supported by AI partnerships, a reported $496 billion backlog and capacity that is largely booked through 2026. UBS also argues that Wall Street may be underestimating AWS’s potential profitability. Will Strong AWS Performance Boost Amazon’s Q3 Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s earnings valuation looks relatively supportive. Commentary highlights a forward P/E near its lowest level in roughly five years, while analysts remain optimistic that rising AWS margins, advertising growth and operating leverage could drive earnings higher. Amazon’s EPS Is Absolutely Exploding
• Positive Sentiment: FCC approval of Amazon Leo’s $11.5 billion Globalstar acquisition advances Amazon’s satellite and direct-to-device connectivity ambitions, potentially expanding its long-term technology platform beyond retail and cloud computing. US agency approves Amazon Leo’s acquisition of Globalstar
• Neutral Sentiment: Options markets imply an unusually large post-earnings move of about 7%. This reflects significant event risk rather than a clear directional signal, with investors weighing bullish AWS expectations against spending and margin concerns. Traders Are Pricing a 7% Swing in Amazon Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy AI infrastructure investment remains the principal risk. Rising capital expenditures could weigh on near-term margins, free cash flow and returns, even if AWS demand is strong. Investors will scrutinize capex guidance and management’s evidence that AI spending is producing profitable growth. The real way to tell if Amazon’s AI spending is paying off
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon is reportedly scrutinizing AI usage costs. Guidance telling engineers not to maximize AI token usage suggests the company is focused on controlling rapidly rising computing expenses. Reports also indicate that Alexa+ could incur approximately $1.7 billion in cloud costs in 2026. Amazon warns against tokenmaxxing

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMZN opened at $254.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.45. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $255.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.14. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.00 and a 52 week high of $287.20.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%. The firm had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc is a global technology and e-commerce company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. Originally launched as an online bookstore, the company has expanded into a broad digital marketplace offering consumer products across numerous categories, including electronics, household goods, apparel, groceries and other merchandise. Amazon also sells products under its own brands and provides logistics, fulfillment and delivery services that support its retail operations and third-party sellers.

The company's principal businesses include online and physical retail, Amazon Web Services (AWS), digital advertising, subscription services and consumer technology.

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