Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Acquires 2,156 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Richards Merrill & Peterson increased its Amazon stake by 4.3% in the third quarter, acquiring 2,156 shares for a total of 52,751 shares valued at approximately $13.1 million. Amazon represents about 3.8% of the firm’s portfolio, while institutional investors own 72.2% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: 57 analysts rate Amazon a Buy and three rate it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $325.12.
• Amazon’s strong AWS growth is offset by rising costs and weaker near-term results. AWS revenue increased 39%, but the company missed quarterly earnings estimates, issued a disappointing holiday-quarter outlook, and reported approximately $42.4 billion in negative free cash flow amid heavy AI and data-center investment.

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,751 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after buying an additional 2,156 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises approximately 3.8% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $13,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMZN. Kondo Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Amazon.com by 0.7% in the third quarter. Kondo Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,768 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 10.9% in the third quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,154 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $4,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.4% in the third quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 291,960 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Prairie Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 97.5% during the third quarter. Prairie Advisory LLC now owns 25,750 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $6,416,000 after buying an additional 12,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OceanIQ Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 51.1% during the third quarter. OceanIQ Capital LLC now owns 22,799 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $5,895,000 after buying an additional 7,709 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMZN shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Fifty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.12.

Key Stories Impacting Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: AWS growth accelerated sharply. Amazon Web Services revenue rose 39% to approximately $46 billion, its fastest growth rate in nearly five years, while AWS generated about 63% of Amazon’s operating profit. CEO Andy Jassy said growth could exceed 40% in 2027 and 2028 as businesses continue migrating workloads to the cloud. Amazon AWS revenue grows 39%, leading to wider margin
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term AI and infrastructure demand remains strong. AWS capacity is reportedly booked through much of next year, and Amazon continues to secure power for expansion, including an agreement supporting more than $3 billion of investment at Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant. Amazon also received approval for its Globalstar deal, supporting its satellite-connectivity ambitions. Amazon wins FCC approval for Globalstar deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon held its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast at $220 billion. Management indicated AI-related spending could be “meaningfully” higher in 2027. The investment may support future AWS and AI growth, but investors are demanding clearer evidence that the spending will generate adequate returns. Amazon CEO sees AI spending meaningfully higher in 2027
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon missed quarterly expectations. Adjusted earnings were $1.89 per share versus the roughly $1.97–$2.01 consensus range, while revenue of $201.9 billion was slightly below forecasts. Earnings also declined from the year-ago period. Amazon lags Q3 earnings and revenue estimates
• Negative Sentiment: The fourth-quarter outlook disappointed investors. Amazon projected holiday-quarter sales largely below Wall Street estimates, raising concerns about slower e-commerce demand as inflation and higher household costs weigh on consumers. Amazon projects fourth-quarter sales below estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Cash-flow pressure intensified. Amazon reported approximately $42.4 billion of negative free cash flow as data-center and AI investment surged. The combination of heavy spending, uncertain payback periods, and broader market anxiety over the AI trade is driving the negative reaction despite AWS’s strong performance. Amazon posts negative free cash flow and holds capex unchanged

Amazon.com Stock Down 4.2%

NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $243.79 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.00 and a twelve month high of $287.20. The company has a market cap of $2.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.45. The company's 50 day moving average is $254.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $243.12.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $201.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.22 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.00 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the company'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 value of $5,180,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,235,766 shares in the company, valued at $579,085,751.66. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew Garman sold 14,541 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.06, for a total transaction of $3,766,991.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 17,794 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,713.64. The trade was a 44.97% 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 have sold a total of 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,580,515 in the last quarter. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc is a global technology and e-commerce company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. Originally launched as an online bookstore, the company has expanded into a broad digital marketplace offering consumer products across numerous categories, including electronics, household goods, apparel, groceries and other merchandise. Amazon also sells products under its own brands and provides logistics, fulfillment and delivery services that support its retail operations and third-party sellers.

The company's principal businesses include online and physical retail, Amazon Web Services (AWS), digital advertising, subscription services and consumer technology.

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