Demars Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Demars Financial Group LLC increased its Amazon stake by 28.2% in the first quarter, buying 2,822 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 12,818 shares worth about $2.67 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very strong, with hedge funds and other investors holding about 72.2% of Amazon shares; several large firms recently added or expanded positions.
• Wall Street sentiment is upbeat, with 57 analysts rating AMZN a Buy and a consensus “Moderate Buy” target price of $312.76, supported by optimism around AWS growth, AI spending, and Amazon’s upcoming earnings report.

Demars Financial Group LLC grew its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 28.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,818 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after buying an additional 2,822 shares during the period. Amazon.com accounts for about 0.9% of Demars Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Demars Financial Group LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $2,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth $32,868,735,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 98,090,585 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 20,598.0% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 87,982,814 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $20,308,193,000 after purchasing an additional 87,557,736 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth $11,674,091,000. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in Amazon.com by 879.4% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 27,862,400 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $6,431,199,000 after buying an additional 25,017,588 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AMZN. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $296.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $293.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifty-seven equities research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.76.

Amazon.com News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Amazon’s AI buildout, including strong demand for its Trainium chips and a large AWS backlog, reinforcing the view that Amazon’s capex may translate into future earnings power. What Is Going on With Amazon Stock on Monday?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are increasingly optimistic ahead of Amazon’s July 30 earnings report, with expectations for AWS growth to accelerate and retail trends to remain solid, which supports the stock’s move higher. Amazon’s AI Spending Is About to Face Its Most Important AWS Test Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple bullish pieces argued Amazon is undervalued and a “no-brainer” buy because AI infrastructure spending and cloud economics could drive a future margin inflection. Undervalued and Winning the AI Hyperscaler War: 3 Reasons Amazon is a No-Brainer Right Now
• Positive Sentiment: Investor coverage also pointed to continued support from large holders and prominent investors such as Ray Dalio and David Tepper, which can reinforce confidence in AMZN as an AI megacap winner. Billionaire Investor David Tepper’s Top 5 Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: One article noted Amazon closed another facility and cut nearly 500 jobs, but it appears tied to logistics optimization rather than a major strategic setback. Amazon closes another major facility, nearly 500 workers affected
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary questioned Amazon’s free cash flow because of heavy AI capital spending, but these concerns were outweighed today by optimism about future AWS and chip returns. Big Tech Is Minting Mountains of Cash — But Amazon’s Is Vanishing

Amazon.com Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $249.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.00 and a 52-week high of $278.56. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $250.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.08.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $1.15. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 12.22%.The firm had revenue of $181.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. Amazon.com's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 15,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.40, for a total transaction of $4,074,007.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,729,480.60. This trade represents a 52.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 1,000 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.77, for a total value of $239,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 484,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,175,038.79. The trade was a 0.21% 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 144,274 shares of company stock valued at $38,716,204. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Amazon.com

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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