Empire Financial Management Company LLC Reduces Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Empire Financial Management cut its Amazon position by 6.2% in the first quarter, selling 3,890 shares and retaining 58,362 shares worth approximately $12.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 72.2% of Amazon.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 56 Buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating; the average price target is $322.56. Recent targets range as high as $350.
• Amazon reported a strong quarter, with earnings of $5.75 per share and revenue of $200.61 billion, exceeding estimates and growing 19.6% year over year. The stock opened at $278.09, near its 12-month high of $287.20.

Empire Financial Management Company LLC lowered its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,362 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 3,890 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises approximately 2.7% of Empire Financial Management Company LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Empire Financial Management Company LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $12,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MilWealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 79.0% in the 4th quarter. MilWealth Group LLC now owns 179 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 200 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 221 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 87.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. now owns 229 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMZN shares. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $335.00 target price on Amazon.com and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. DZ Bank boosted their price target on Amazon.com from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $322.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 6,370 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at $127,659,819.53. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.38, for a total value of $620,003.94. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 119,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,427,876.40. This trade represents a 1.93% 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. Insiders sold 77,867 shares of company stock worth $20,532,092 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

NASDAQ AMZN opened at $278.09 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $246.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $237.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.00 and a 12-month high of $287.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.45.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $3.93. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%.The business had revenue of $200.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s recent earnings breakout is attracting continued investor interest. Renewed AWS growth and accelerating AI demand could support earnings momentum and a post-earnings drift higher. Amazon: A Post-Earnings Drift Candidate
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators point to accelerating cloud revenue as a potential long-term driver that could help Amazon grow beyond its recently achieved $3 trillion market capitalization. Amazon Just Joined the $3 Trillion Club
• Positive Sentiment: A reported institutional and retail “Power Inflow” alert provided a short-term bullish trading signal, helping reinforce buying momentum in AMZN. Amazon Shares Up After Key Trading Signal
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s Zoox robotaxi subsidiary began paid rides in Las Vegas after receiving a federal commercial exemption, marking a meaningful commercialization milestone for the company’s autonomous-vehicle investment. Zoox to Begin Paid Rides
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon Pharmacy is offering eligible Medicare patients access to certain weight-loss drugs for $50 per month, potentially expanding customer engagement and the company’s healthcare presence. Amazon Pharmacy Rolls Out Low-Cost Weight-Loss Drugs

Amazon.com 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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