Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Purchases 156,807 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors increased its Amazon stake by 14% in the fourth quarter, buying 156,807 additional shares and bringing its total position to 1,276,629 shares worth about $296.9 million.
• Amazon reported strong quarterly earnings, with EPS of $2.78 versus estimates of $1.63 and revenue of $181.52 billion, up 16.6% year over year. The results reinforced bullish sentiment around the stock.
• Analyst coverage remains positive, with several firms raising price targets and 57 analysts rating AMZN a Buy. The stock currently carries a consensus target price of $312.83.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,276,629 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after purchasing an additional 156,807 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises approximately 3.8% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $296,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMZN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,036,091 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $885,478,000 after purchasing an additional 397,007 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,045 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $5,495,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,016,869 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $442,481,000 after acquiring an additional 54,987 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 28,975 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $6,357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at $2,153,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AMZN shares. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. President Capital reduced their price objective on Amazon.com from $320.00 to $296.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on Amazon.com from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Fifty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $312.83.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMZN opened at $270.64 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $245.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.50. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.00 and a twelve month high of $278.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $177.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Amazon.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target on Amazon and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence that the stock still has room to climb from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s investment in Anthropic is drawing attention after the AI startup’s valuation surged, with several reports noting that Amazon benefits as Anthropic grows and that the relationship could become an increasingly valuable long-term asset for AWS.
• Positive Sentiment: Snowflake’s $6 billion AWS commitment and strong earnings have highlighted continued enterprise demand for Amazon Web Services, supporting the view that Amazon’s cloud business remains a key growth engine.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple stories emphasized Amazon’s AI momentum, including AWS’s fastest growth in 15 quarters and plans to expand Bedrock with more advanced model offerings, reinforcing expectations that AI will keep driving revenue and margin expansion.
• Positive Sentiment: Prominent investors and commentators, including Cathie Wood and Jim Cramer, were cited as bullish on Amazon, which can help sentiment around the stock. Article: Jim Cramer Explains One of the Reasons “Amazon Stock Has Been Going Ever Higher”
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon shut down an internal AI leaderboard after employees exaggerated usage scores, a sign the company is trying to control AI spending and improve discipline rather than a direct business setback. Article: Amazon says it shut down a token leaderboard: 'Don't use AI just to use AI'
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Amazon nearing the $3 trillion market-cap milestone and outperforming since earnings is supportive, but it mostly reflects momentum already built into the stock rather than a new catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Australia’s competition regulator sued Amazon’s local unit over children’s backpacks lacking required battery warning labels, adding a regulatory overhang.
• Negative Sentiment: Blue Origin’s rocket explosion created a negative headline for Jeff Bezos’s broader empire, though the direct impact on Amazon is limited.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also raised concerns about rising AI capital spending and margin pressure, which could matter if Amazon’s infrastructure buildout accelerates faster than monetization.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 31,352 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $8,621,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,175,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,335,650. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 value of $4,074,007.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,159 shares in the company, valued at $3,729,480.60. This trade represents a 52.21% 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 have sold 194,774 shares of company stock valued at $51,348,244. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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