Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Stock: Perpetual Ltd Increases Holdings

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd increased its Amazon stake by 75.9% in the third quarter, adding 198,262 shares for a total of 459,613 shares valued at approximately $114.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 72.2% of Amazon.
• Amazon’s key growth drivers remain AWS, artificial intelligence, advertising and holiday e-commerce demand, but its roughly $220 billion AI investment and rising capital expenditures could pressure near-term free cash flow. Third-quarter results, scheduled for Oct. 29, are expected to provide important updates on these issues.
• Amazon shares opened at $250, down 1.9%, while analysts maintained a broadly positive outlook: 56 analysts rated the stock Buy and three rated it Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $322.53.

Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 75.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 459,613 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after acquiring an additional 198,262 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com accounts for about 1.8% of Perpetual Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $114,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TOP Private Wealth LLC. purchased a new stake in Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atomic Invest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 41.2% during the 2nd quarter. Atomic Invest LLC now owns 168 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Amazon.com

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

Amazon.com Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $250.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business's 50 day moving average is $256.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.57. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.00 and a 52 week high of $287.20. The company has a market cap of $2.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.45.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 EPS 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 earned $1.68 EPS. The business's revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,343 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total value of $606,860.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 119,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,024,217.80. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.77, for a total transaction of $2,404,950.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,699,926.30. This represents a 18.35% decrease in their position. 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 90 days, insiders sold 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,580,515. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMZN shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $280.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $385.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $325.00 price objective (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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $322.53.

Amazon.com Profile

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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