Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 423,343 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors cut its Amazon stake by 40.5% in the first quarter, selling 423,343 shares and retaining 621,178 shares valued at approximately $129.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 72.2% of Amazon’s outstanding stock.
• Amazon reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.75 versus the $1.82 consensus estimate and revenue of $200.61 billion, up 19.6% year over year and above analyst expectations.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with Amazon receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $322.56, while recent brokerages raised targets as high as $345.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 40.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 621,178 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 423,343 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $129,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,868,735,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 27,376.7% in the 4th 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. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 20,598.0% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 87,982,814 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $20,308,193,000 after purchasing an additional 87,557,736 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 1st quarter valued at $11,674,091,000. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 879.4% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 27,862,400 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $6,431,199,000 after purchasing an additional 25,017,588 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amazon.com Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ AMZN opened at $262.65 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.66. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.00 and a 12 month high of $287.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.45.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMZN. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $332.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $293.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on Amazon.com and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $322.56.

Amazon.com News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying supports sentiment. Thrive Capital disclosed a roughly $215 million Amazon position, while Baupost Group added 625,100 shares and Dodge & Cox increased its holding by approximately 1.6 million shares. Thrive Capital discloses Amazon stake
• Positive Sentiment: AWS remains the central bullish catalyst. Commentary points to accelerating AWS growth for five consecutive quarters, a substantial backlog and customer demand extending into 2028. Amazon Web Services also became AppFolio’s preferred cloud provider, adding evidence of enterprise demand. AppFolio selects AWS
• Positive Sentiment: New growth opportunities are expanding. Amazon won a Space Force communications contract, while its AI infrastructure spending is helping drive demand for data-center and semiconductor suppliers. Analysts cited in recent coverage remain bullish on both Amazon and Alphabet. Amazon wins Space Force contract
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation remains a debate. Amazon is viewed favorably versus some large-cap peers, but coverage notes that its forward earnings multiple is higher than its trailing multiple. That may reflect expected earnings growth, though it leaves less room for execution disappointments.
• Negative Sentiment: Retail data raised demand concerns. U.S. retail sales fell in July, with online spending declining after Amazon’s summer sales event. Higher fuel and operating costs may also pressure big-box retailers and consumer purchasing power. July retail sales decline
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment brings financial and execution risk. Amazon and other hyperscalers are issuing significant debt to fund infrastructure expansion, increasing concerns about returns on spending and potential pressure on future profits. Amazon’s lack of a dividend may also limit appeal for income-focused investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Twitch backlash adds reputational risk. Twitch’s decision to use livestream content for Amazon AI training, with the feature reportedly enabled automatically, has angered creators and could create privacy, regulatory and user-retention concerns. Twitch AI data-sharing backlash

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.42, for a total transaction of $5,268,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,205,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $581,042,879.72. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 15,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 62,650 shares of company stock valued at $16,535,457 over the last ninety days. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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