Morningstar Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management LLC cut its Amazon position by 71.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 129,194 shares and leaving it with 52,376 shares worth about $12.1 million.
• Other institutional investors were mixed on Amazon: several increased holdings, and overall 72.2% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Amazon’s recent earnings were strong, with $2.78 EPS versus $1.63 expected and revenue of $181.52 billion, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $312.52.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 71.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,376 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 129,194 shares during the period. Amazon.com accounts for approximately 0.7% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $12,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SLT Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. SLT Holdings LLC now owns 18,440 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $4,256,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Glenview Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 633,493 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $146,223,000 after buying an additional 13,706 shares during the period. Elite Life Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Elite Life Management LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $1,065,000 after buying an additional 1,470 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 268,109 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $61,885,000 after buying an additional 1,674 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 89,252 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $18,771,000 after buying an additional 4,502 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Amazon.com news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.53, for a total value of $2,489,273.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,060,750.70. The trade was a 18.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 31,352 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,175,766 shares in the company, valued at $598,335,650. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their position. 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 90 days, insiders have sold 195,774 shares of company stock worth $51,614,434. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $246.03 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $249.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.98. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.00 and a twelve month high of $278.56.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $1.15. Amazon.com had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The business had revenue of $181.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMZN has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Amazon.com from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued 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. Fifty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $312.52.

More Amazon.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s latest AI and logistics push is a major bullish catalyst: the company unveiled an upgraded warehouse robot and is backing a €10 billion expansion of its European fulfillment network, which should support faster shipping, lower costs, and better operating efficiency. Reuters: Amazon unveils new AI warehouse robot in $12 billion Europe push
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon Web Services continues to win large contracts, including Pinterest’s $4 billion cloud deal through 2031, reinforcing AWS’s role as a key AI infrastructure beneficiary. Reuters: Pinterest signs $4 billion Amazon deal for cloud services
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent market commentary pieces highlighted Amazon’s growing AI, cloud, and advertising opportunities, with analysts continuing to frame AMZN as a long-duration AI winner. MarketBeat: Amazon.com stock and related coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon’s CEO Douglas Herrington sold 1,000 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan. The sale is small, but insider selling can still create some short-term caution. MarketBeat: Amazon.com insider trades
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon is facing fresh scrutiny over its aggressive AI spending, with employees publicly criticizing massive data-center investment while layoffs continue. That keeps cost and labor concerns front and center. CNBC: Amazon engineers in Seattle slam employer for building AI data centers while laying off staffers
• Negative Sentiment: Rising shipping costs tied to Middle East conflict could pressure Amazon’s retail margins ahead of Prime Day, adding another near-term headwind. Yahoo Finance: Iran war raises shipping costs ahead of Amazon Prime Day
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon also faces ongoing regulatory and reputational pressure from data-center pushback and privacy-related concerns around Ring, which may weigh on sentiment even if the long-term business outlook remains strong. Reuters: Texas grid flags risks as data centers, crypto sites fail voltage tests

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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