Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 4,928 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Arete Wealth Advisors increased its Amazon stake by 6%, buying 4,928 shares to own 86,584 shares valued at approximately $18.0 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 72.2% of Amazon’s outstanding stock.
• Amazon reported quarterly earnings of $5.75 per share, significantly beating the $1.82 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 19.6% year over year to $200.61 billion. Analysts maintain a broadly bullish view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $322.56.
• AWS and AI spending remain central to Amazon’s outlook, but the company faces concerns over the returns and execution risks of its planned $220 billion capital-investment program, alongside potential labor, regulatory, and reputational pressures.

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 86,584 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,928 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com accounts for 1.1% of Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $18,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 73,085 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $15,221,000 after purchasing an additional 5,125 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.7% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 303,862 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $63,285,000 after buying an additional 5,104 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 216,606 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $49,997,000 after buying an additional 4,854 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Amazon.com by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,653,228 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $5,690,463,000 after buying an additional 4,275,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 39,264 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $9,063,000 after buying an additional 4,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

AMZN opened at $267.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $247.35 and a 200-day moving average of $238.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.03. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.00 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $3.93. The business had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amazon.com News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: AWS remains the primary bullish catalyst. Amazon reportedly raised its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to approximately $220 billion from $200 billion as cloud demand accelerates; AWS revenue grew 36.7% year over year to $42.2 billion, while its backlog reached $496 billion. Much of Amazon’s 2027 cloud capacity is already committed, improving visibility into future growth. Amazon Stock Eyes AWS Growth as Spending Plan Expands
• Positive Sentiment: Two OpenAI cybersecurity models, Daybreak Red and Daybreak Blue, launched on Amazon Bedrock, with AWS security teams already using them to identify vulnerabilities. The announcement reinforces the investment case for Bedrock and AWS as enterprise AI adoption expands. Amazon Is Powering OpenAI’s Cyber Models
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon expanded its delivery Locker network to more than 750 locations across over 500 U.S. college campuses. The initiative could support convenience and customer engagement, although its near-term financial effect is likely limited. Amazon Expands Locker Pickup to U.S. Colleges
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are increasingly focused on whether the $220 billion AI spending program will generate adequate returns. The sharp increase from $132 billion in 2025 raises depreciation, financing, and execution risks, particularly if AI demand or monetization slows. Amazon Raises 2026 AI Spending
• Negative Sentiment: Twitch confirmed that Amazon will use livestream content to train AI models by default unless creators opt out. The policy has triggered backlash from streamers and could create reputational, creator-retention, and regulatory risks. Amazon Will Train on Twitch Content by Default
• Negative Sentiment: New York City lawmakers are backing legislation that would require large delivery operators to directly employ couriers rather than rely on subcontractors. Amazon warns the proposal could put more than 5,000 jobs at risk and increase delivery costs. Mamdani Takes on Amazon Over Delivery Workers
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market pressure also weighed on AMZN as investors rotated away from high-valued technology shares and awaited inflation data. Recent insider and founder selling, including Jeff Bezos’ large planned sale, may add sentiment pressure, although the transactions were reportedly made under prearranged trading plans.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,060,750.70. This represents a 18.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Douglas J. Herrington sold 6,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.39, for a total transaction of $1,671,424.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,659,819.53. The trade was a 1.29% 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 have sold a total of 77,867 shares of company stock valued at $20,532,092 over the last quarter. Insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMZN. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $332.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $322.56.

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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