Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Stock Holdings Boosted by Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Institutional ownership increased: Azimuth Capital Investment Management raised its Amazon stake by 23.5% to 130,567 shares worth approximately $31.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 72.2% of Amazon’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: Amazon has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 59 analysts, with a consensus price target of $321.63, supported by expectations for AWS, artificial intelligence growth and improving retail margins.
• AI investment brings both opportunity and risk: AWS expansion and major cloud commitments are key bullish catalysts, but rising AI capital expenditures, potential regulatory changes and concerns about free cash flow and profitability add uncertainty. Amazon shares recently opened at $251.52 after quarterly revenue rose 19.6% year over year and earnings significantly exceeded estimates.

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 130,567 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after acquiring an additional 24,833 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com makes up approximately 1.1% of Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $31,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter worth about $22,218,775,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $16,341,405,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,604,857 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $13,757,993,000 after buying an additional 1,879,630 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,831,376,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 61,400,503 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $12,787,883,000 after buying an additional 7,590,952 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Amazon.com from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. HSBC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded Amazon.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $321.63.

Key Headlines Impacting Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: AWS data-center push received support: Amazon Web Services pledged more than $1 billion over five years for communities hosting its U.S. data centers, including job training, education and infrastructure initiatives. The investment is intended to ease resistance to new facilities and help Amazon secure capacity for AI workloads. Amazon to invest $1 billion over five years in US data center communities
• Positive Sentiment: AI and AWS growth remain the main bullish catalyst: Reports highlighted AWS’s rapid expansion, a more than $1 billion Synopsys agreement supporting custom-chip development, and Anthropic’s expected long-term AWS commitments of roughly $110 billion. Amazon also launched an AI agent that audits customers’ cloud environments, potentially increasing AWS usage while improving customer cost, security and performance management. Amazon Is Both Landlord And Shareholder In Anthropic’s Giant Cloud Bet
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst confidence provided additional support: Goldman Sachs added Amazon to its conviction list, while New Street raised its price target to $385 and maintained a Buy rating. Analysts cited AWS growth, generative AI exposure and potential retail-margin improvement as reasons for longer-term upside. New Street Adjusts Price Target on Amazon.com to $385
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is reportedly exploring an $8 billion chip sale-and-leaseback: Moving Nvidia AI chips to an investment vehicle could make the balance sheet more asset-light and help fund capital spending, but it also underscores the scale of Amazon’s AI infrastructure costs and financing requirements. Amazon seeks to offload $8 billion of Nvidia chips
• Negative Sentiment: Investors face profitability and regulatory risks: Analysts questioned how much AWS earnings are distorted by unrealized Anthropic investment gains, while surging AI capital expenditures could pressure free cash flow. Potential tougher EU cloud rules, data-center opposition, warehouse labor actions and Prime-related settlement payments add further uncertainty. What Are Amazon Investors Paying for AWS Without Investment Gains?

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 14,541 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 17,794 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,713.64. This trade represents a 44.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total transaction of $5,180,200.00. Following the completion of 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 position. 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 70,589 shares of company stock valued at $18,329,015. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMZN opened at $251.52 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.45. Amazon.com, Inc. has a one year low of $196.00 and a one year high of $287.20. The business's fifty day moving average price is $257.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.51.

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

Amazon.com 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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