Empire Life Investments Inc. Purchases 20,089 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments Inc. increased its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. by 5.8%, owning 367,013 shares valued at approximately $69.8 million, making Amazon its second largest investment.
• Insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold over 4.2 million shares of Amazon, reducing his ownership by 0.47% and totaling nearly $960.7 million in sales.
• Amazon recently reported a quarterly earnings of $1.68 per share, surpassing estimates, with revenues of $167.7 billion, reflecting a 13.3% year-over-year increase.

Empire Life Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 367,013 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after buying an additional 20,089 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com makes up about 4.5% of Empire Life Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $69,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Capitol Family Office Inc. bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.49, for a total transaction of $558,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 518,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,769,384.43. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,715 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.64, for a total value of $601,752.60. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 119,780 shares in the company, valued at $26,548,039.20. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,097,911 shares of company stock worth $5,676,032,574 in the last three months. 9.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMZN shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Roth Capital set a $250.00 price target on Amazon.com and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $262.87.

Amazon.com Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMZN traded down $3.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $232.33. The company had a trading volume of 36,684,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,905,296. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.38 and a 12 month high of $242.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $225.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.13.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.37. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 23.84% and a net margin of 10.54%.The business had revenue of $167.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Amazon.com has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscriptions service through online and physical stores in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero; and develops and produces media content.