Portland Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New $2.10 Million Investment in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Portland Investment Counsel acquired 8,825 Amazon shares worth approximately $2.1 million in the second quarter, making AMZN 0.6% of its portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 72.2% of Amazon.
• Amazon reported quarterly revenue of $200.61 billion, up 19.6% year over year, and EPS of $5.75, significantly exceeding analyst estimates. Wall Street maintains a broadly positive view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $321.19 average price target.
• AWS demand, AI infrastructure investment and expanded same-day delivery are key growth drivers, but Amazon faces risks from heavy capital spending, potentially negative free cash flow, European regulatory scrutiny and ongoing legal concerns.

Portland Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,825 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,103,000. Amazon.com comprises 0.6% of Portland Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMZN. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.7% in the first quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,509 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sfam LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% during the first quarter. Sfam LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. lifted its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. now owns 1,206 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.1% in the first quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon agreed to purchase up to $8 billion of backup generators from Generac, including approximately $2.4 billion of deliveries in 2027–2028. The deal should help Amazon bring AWS data centers online despite grid-connection delays and power shortages, while Amazon receives warrants to purchase Generac shares. Generac Plugs into Amazon for an $8B AI-Powered Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to point to accelerating AWS demand, with reports citing a $169 billion annualized revenue run rate and a large cloud backlog. That supports expectations that AI-related infrastructure spending can translate into future sales, despite near-term cash-flow pressure. Amazon’s Andy Jassy Just Made a Startling Prediction
• Positive Sentiment: Project Mercury aims to expand Amazon’s same-day delivery network to more than 1,000 hubs by 2031. Bank of America called the initiative strategically important as Amazon attempts to narrow Walmart’s proximity and convenience advantage. Amazon’s secret weapon against Walmart could be a massive blitz in same-day delivery
• Positive Sentiment: AWS made its AI-powered hiring product, Amazon Connect Talent, generally available, expanding Amazon’s enterprise AI offerings beyond cloud infrastructure. Amazon has also received favorable attention from UBS analysts among top technology stock picks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is promoting industry and government cooperation on AI safety standards, emphasizing testing before release without calling for a broader slowdown in development. The stance may improve trust but is unlikely to materially change near-term results. Amazon Urges Industry and Government Partnership on AI Safeguards
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon faces European Commission scrutiny over marketplace rules that may restrict sellers from offering lower prices elsewhere, creating potential regulatory and compliance costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that roughly $220 billion of planned 2026 capital expenditures could keep free cash flow negative. Higher wages, delivery costs and possible electricity-grid charges for data centers add to the spending burden.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. senators have urged the FTC to investigate Amazon’s AI shopping tools over alleged suppression of U.S.-made products and misleading “Made in USA” labels. The company also continues to face reputational and legal attention related to its Prime settlement.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMZN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $335.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $280.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Fifty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $321.19.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of Amazon.com stock opened at $253.71 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $256.09 and a 200-day moving average of $245.86. The company has a market cap of $2.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.44. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.00 and a 1-year 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.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $3.93. Amazon.com had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $200.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 14,541 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.06, for a total transaction of $3,766,991.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 17,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,609,713.64. This represents a 44.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 Andrew Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total transaction of $5,180,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,235,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $579,085,751.66. This trade represents a 0.89% 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 90 days, insiders sold 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,568,785. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Company 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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