Flputnam Investment Management Co. Invests $162.34 Million in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management acquired 681,131 Amazon shares worth approximately $162.3 million, making AMZN its eighth-largest portfolio holding. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 72.2% of Amazon.
• Amazon reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 19.6% year over year to $200.61 billion and EPS of $5.75 versus the $1.82 consensus estimate. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $323.26.
• Amazon is expanding aggressively in AI, data centers, satellite broadband, and other growth areas, but projected capital spending of roughly $220 billion and negative free cash flow are raising concerns about leverage and investment returns.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 681,131 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock, valued at approximately $162,341,000. Amazon.com makes up 1.9% of Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 832,274,556 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $158,348,557,000 after buying an additional 8,913,959 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Amazon.com by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 388,653,121 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $89,708,913,000 after acquiring an additional 6,971,680 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 225,120,994 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $51,753,622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479,324 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,868,735,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Amazon.com by 27,376.7% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 98,448,885 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $2,272,397,000 after acquiring an additional 98,090,585 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Amazon.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major AI-chip supply agreement: Amazon Web Services agreed to a multigenerational collaboration with Qualcomm to develop custom AI inference chips and optical networking systems. The arrangement could involve up to $60 billion of AWS purchases through 2036, helping Amazon diversify beyond Nvidia and potentially reduce AI computing costs. Qualcomm’s Data Center Bet Looks More Real After Amazon’s AI Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Expansion of AI and data-center capacity: Amazon and manufacturing partner Wiwynn plan to invest $1.6 billion in Texas, adding nearly 1,000 advanced-manufacturing jobs. Amazon is also raising £4.25 billion through its first sterling bond sale to help fund AI infrastructure and data-center expansion. AMZN And Wiwynn Are Scaling Up in Texas
• Positive Sentiment: New growth opportunities: AT&T became the first major U.S. telecom customer for Amazon Leo satellite broadband, while Amazon ordered six additional Ariane 6 launches. These developments support Amazon’s efforts to build businesses beyond e-commerce and AWS. AT&T Becomes Amazon’s First Major Satellite Broadband Telecom Customer
• Neutral Sentiment: Board strengthened with cybersecurity expertise: Amazon appointed Kevin Mandia, Mandiant’s founder and former CEO, to its board. The appointment adds security experience as Amazon expands cloud, AI and satellite operations. Amazon adds cybersecurity veteran Kevin Mandia to board
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern over spending and leverage: Amazon’s projected roughly $220 billion of 2026 capital expenditures and negative free cash flow are raising questions about whether AI returns will justify the buildout. The sterling bond sale expands financing capacity but also highlights the company’s reliance on debt markets. Amazon starts selling first sterling bonds
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks remain: States including Ohio may reduce data-center tax incentives, potentially increasing infrastructure costs. Amazon also faces a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging discrimination against pregnant warehouse workers, while investigators continue examining a fatal Prime Air cargo-plane crash. Amazon, Google and Meta Face Pushback Over Data Center Tax Breaks

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMZN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $333.00 price target (up from $320.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $320.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $390.00 target price (up from $280.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $323.26.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.77, for a total transaction of $254,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 475,681 shares in the company, valued at $121,189,248.37. This represents a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,343 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total value of $606,860.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 119,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,024,217.80. This trade represents a 1.92% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,568,785. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amazon.com Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $252.40 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $255.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.00 and a 1-year high of $287.20. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.44.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $3.93. Amazon.com had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The firm had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. Amazon.com's revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Amazon.com 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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