Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Benchmark Investment Advisors purchased 20,311 Amazon shares worth approximately $4.84 million in the second quarter, making Amazon about 2.1% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 72.2% of Amazon’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 56 analysts rate Amazon a Buy and three rate it a Hold, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $321.19.
• Amazon exceeded quarterly expectations with $5.75 in EPS and $200.61 billion in revenue, but investors face concerns over heavy planned capital spending, potential regulatory scrutiny, and recent insider stock sales.

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 20,311 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,841,000. Amazon.com accounts for about 2.1% of Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Amazon.com by 27,376.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 98,448,885 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $2,272,397,000 after buying an additional 98,090,585 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at approximately $16,341,405,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 14.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 61,400,503 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $12,787,883,000 after acquiring an additional 7,590,952 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,604,857 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $13,757,993,000 after acquiring an additional 1,879,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 23.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 39,029,984 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $8,126,338,000 after acquiring an additional 7,305,560 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $335.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Fifty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $321.19.

Amazon.com Price Performance

AMZN opened at $253.71 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $256.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $245.86. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.44. 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 announced 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 analysts' expectations of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. Amazon.com's revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Andrew R. 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 value of $5,180,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,235,766 shares in the company, valued at $579,085,751.66. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were 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 directly owned 41,190 shares in the company, valued at $10,699,926.30. This trade represents a 18.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,589 shares of company stock valued at $18,568,785. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amazon.com News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon agreed to purchase up to $8 billion of backup generators from Generac, including approximately $2.4 billion of deliveries in 2027–2028. The deal should help Amazon bring AWS data centers online despite grid-connection delays and power shortages, while Amazon receives warrants to purchase Generac shares. Generac Plugs into Amazon for an $8B AI-Powered Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to point to accelerating AWS demand, with reports citing a $169 billion annualized revenue run rate and a large cloud backlog. That supports expectations that AI-related infrastructure spending can translate into future sales, despite near-term cash-flow pressure. Amazon’s Andy Jassy Just Made a Startling Prediction
• Positive Sentiment: Project Mercury aims to expand Amazon’s same-day delivery network to more than 1,000 hubs by 2031. Bank of America called the initiative strategically important as Amazon attempts to narrow Walmart’s proximity and convenience advantage. Amazon’s secret weapon against Walmart could be a massive blitz in same-day delivery
• Positive Sentiment: AWS made its AI-powered hiring product, Amazon Connect Talent, generally available, expanding Amazon’s enterprise AI offerings beyond cloud infrastructure. Amazon has also received favorable attention from UBS analysts among top technology stock picks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is promoting industry and government cooperation on AI safety standards, emphasizing testing before release without calling for a broader slowdown in development. The stance may improve trust but is unlikely to materially change near-term results. Amazon Urges Industry and Government Partnership on AI Safeguards
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon faces European Commission scrutiny over marketplace rules that may restrict sellers from offering lower prices elsewhere, creating potential regulatory and compliance costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that roughly $220 billion of planned 2026 capital expenditures could keep free cash flow negative. Higher wages, delivery costs and possible electricity-grid charges for data centers add to the spending burden.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. senators have urged the FTC to investigate Amazon’s AI shopping tools over alleged suppression of U.S.-made products and misleading “Made in USA” labels. The company also continues to face reputational and legal attention related to its Prime settlement.

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc is a global technology and e-commerce company that operates online marketplaces and provides a broad range of consumer products and services. Its retail business sells merchandise directly to customers and enables third-party sellers to offer products through Amazon's websites and applications. The company also operates physical stores and provides services such as digital content, subscriptions, and consumer devices, including Kindle and Echo products.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides cloud computing, storage, database, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technology services to businesses, governments, and organizations.

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