Sapient Capital LLC Cuts Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Sapient Capital reduced its Amazon stake by 29.9% in the first quarter, selling 167,392 shares and retaining 392,387 shares worth approximately $81.7 million.
• Institutional investors own 72.2% of Amazon, with several funds—including Arrowstreet Capital, Thrive Capital, Baupost Group and Dodge & Cox—holding or adding significant positions.
• Amazon reported quarterly revenue of $200.61 billion and EPS of $5.75, surpassing estimates. Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $322.56, citing AWS growth while noting valuation and AI-investment risks.

Sapient Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 29.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 392,387 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 167,392 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com accounts for approximately 1.2% of Sapient Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $81,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMZN. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 73,085 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $15,221,000 after acquiring an additional 5,125 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 303,862 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $63,285,000 after acquiring an additional 5,104 shares in the last quarter. Narwhal Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 216,606 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $49,997,000 after acquiring an additional 4,854 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,653,228 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $5,690,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,275,942 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Amazon.com by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 39,264 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $9,063,000 after purchasing an additional 4,713 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Amazon.com

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

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMZN opened at $262.65 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.00 and a fifty-two week high of $287.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $247.91 and a 200-day moving average of $238.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $200.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%.The business's revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $325.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $319.00 price target on Amazon.com and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $328.00 price objective (up from $322.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (down from $330.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $322.56.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.42, for a total transaction of $5,268,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,205,766 shares in the company, 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 through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.53, for a total transaction of $2,489,273.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,060,750.70. This represents a 18.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 62,650 shares of company stock worth $16,535,457 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

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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