Smith Moore & CO. Sells 2,715 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Smith Moore & CO. reduced its stake in Amazon by 6.6%, selling 2,715 shares and finishing the quarter with 38,700 shares valued at about $8.93 million.
• Wall Street remains largely bullish with an average price target of $289.39 (mostly Buy/Outperform ratings), though some firms have cut targets while others, like Mizuho, raised theirs to $325.
• Notable insider selling has occurred recently—CEOs Douglas Herrington (20,500 shares at ~$245) and Andrew Jassy (31,000 shares at ~$255)—and Q1 earnings due after the close are the immediate catalyst amid positive AWS/AI developments and regulatory/positioning risks.

Smith Moore & CO. lessened its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,700 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 2,715 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $8,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMZN. American Capital Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 63.9% in the third quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 8,081 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $1,774,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the third quarter valued at approximately $451,642,000. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 39,264 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $9,063,000 after acquiring an additional 4,713 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 36,485 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $8,421,000 after acquiring an additional 3,196 shares during the period. Finally, Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 1.9% in the third quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 239,862 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $52,667,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Amazon.com from $255.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (down from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-five have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $289.39.

More Amazon.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI models are now coming to Amazon Bedrock/AWS in limited preview — a major distribution win for AWS that strengthens Amazon’s position as an AI infrastructure provider and could lift high‑margin cloud revenue. OpenAI expands Amazon deal after Microsoft loosens exclusivity terms
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho raised its AMZN price target to $325 and reiterated an Outperform rating, signaling bullish analyst conviction that AWS (and Amazon’s chips/AI stack) is the core long‑term driver. Mizuho Raises Amazon Price Target to $325
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon rolled out new AI features — interactive audio Q&A on product pages and expanded Amazon Connect agentic tools for supply‑chain, HR and customer service — which help monetize AI across retail, ads and enterprise services. Amazon launches an AI-powered audio Q&A experience on product pages
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon secured exclusive multi‑year rights to Oprah Winfrey’s podcast content — a content/ad monetization catalyst for Amazon Music/Wondery and advertising growth. Amazon secures exclusive rights to Oprah Winfrey's podcast
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 earnings are due after the close (April 29). The report is the proximate catalyst — strong AWS/AI disclosures could push shares higher, but heavy capex and margin commentary could trigger short‑term volatility. 'Get Ready,' Says Top Analyst as Amazon Stock Heads Into 'Hyperscaler Wednesday'
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains largely bullish (many buy ratings and higher targets), creating upside but also setting high expectations going into earnings. Amazon Pulls The Mag 7 Higher
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold ~3,849 shares under a 10b5‑1 plan — a routine disclosure but often watched by investors as potential near‑term selling pressure. Director Jonathan Rubinstein SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators signaled plans to target cloud and AI under new Big Tech rules — increased regulation could raise compliance costs and limit some commercial flexibility in Europe. EU rules reining in Big Tech will now target cloud services and AI
• Negative Sentiment: Retail investor caution and macro/AI sentiment swings raise the chance of a post‑earnings unwind even if results are strong — positioning is crowded. Amazon Loses the Faith of Retail Investors Ahead of Q1 Earnings

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 20,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $5,022,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 499,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,465,945. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 31,000 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $7,905,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,207,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $562,815,090. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders sold 128,035 shares of company stock valued at $28,827,479. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AMZN opened at $259.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $221.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.38. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $178.85 and a 12 month high of $264.50.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $213.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.02 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amazon.com Company 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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