Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its Amazon stake by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 43,534 shares and leaving it with 1,044,521 shares valued at about $241.1 million.
• Despite the stake trim, institutional investors remain heavily invested in Amazon, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 72.20% of the company’s shares.
• Analysts and recent headlines remain broadly positive on Amazon, citing AI, cloud growth, Prime Day sales, and a possible new Trainium chip revenue stream, while the stock also continues to attract strong analyst buy ratings and higher price targets.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,044,521 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 43,534 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $241,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMZN. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,740 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its stake in Amazon.com by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 1,633 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 886 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 3,076 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navalign LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 13,349 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $3,081,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are increasingly bullish on Amazon’s AI and cloud positioning, with multiple firms reiterating Buy ratings and highlighting AWS as a long-term growth driver. Brian Pitz Reiterates Amazon as Top Pick, Maintains Buy Rating and $355 Price Target on Strengthening AI and Cloud Positioning
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon is reportedly exploring sales of its Trainium AI chips to external data center customers, which could open a new revenue stream and deepen its challenge to Nvidia. Amazon exploring selling its custom AI chips to data center customers
• Positive Sentiment: Prime Day is approaching, and Bank of America expects the event to drive strong sales while boosting adoption of Amazon’s AI shopping tools, including Alexa for Shopping. Bank of America Lays Out Expectations Ahead of Amazon Stock’s Prime Day
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon is investing more than €10 billion to expand its European fulfillment network, signaling continued support for e-commerce capacity and logistics efficiency. Amazon Commits €10 Billion for European fulfillment network
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is facing EU scrutiny over whether AWS should be classified as a “gatekeeper” under the Digital Markets Act, which could increase regulatory oversight for the cloud unit. Microsoft and Amazon Face EU Digital Markets Act Scrutiny Over Cloud Dominance
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon MGM Studios dropped the nearly finished OpenAI film “Artificial” after the companies’ broader partnership shift, a move with limited direct financial impact but notable signaling value. Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman, OpenAI Film ‘Artificial’ Dropped by Amazon MGM Studios
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon is also dealing with employee and public scrutiny over AI data center expansion and labor practices, which could add regulatory and reputational pressure. Amazon investigating engineers who criticized AI data center expansion

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.42, for a total value of $5,268,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,205,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $581,042,879.72. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.38, for a total value of $620,003.94. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 119,780 shares in the company, valued at $31,427,876.40. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 195,774 shares of company stock worth $51,614,434. Insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

AMZN stock opened at $244.39 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.00 and a 1-year high of $278.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $256.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.12. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMZN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Fifty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.78.

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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