Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Cuts Stake in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC reduced its Amazon stake by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,744 shares and leaving it with 165,903 shares worth about $38.3 million.
• Despite some institutional selling, many analysts remain bullish on Amazon: several firms raised price targets, and Amazon now has 56 Buy ratings versus just three Holds, with an average target of $313.09.
• Amazon posted strong quarterly results, reporting $2.78 EPS on $181.52 billion in revenue, both above expectations, while also expanding initiatives like 30-minute delivery and AI infrastructure spending.

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC lowered its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 165,903 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 7,744 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com comprises approximately 3.8% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $38,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,036,091 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $885,478,000 after buying an additional 397,007 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,045 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $5,495,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,016,869 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $442,481,000 after buying an additional 54,987 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 28,975 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $6,357,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth $2,153,000. 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: Amazon is expanding its new “Amazon Now” service, offering 30-minute delivery in dozens of U.S. cities. That strengthens its competitive position in quick commerce and could support higher customer engagement and order frequency. Amazon cranks up 30-minute delivery in major U.S. cities
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlight Amazon’s continued push into AI infrastructure and cloud spending, including plans to tap global debt markets to fund that buildout. Investors may see this as a long-term growth catalyst for AWS and Amazon’s AI capabilities. Alphabet, Amazon tap overseas debt markets to fund AI infrastructure push
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating on Amazon and raised its price target to $350, reinforcing Wall Street’s bullish view after Amazon’s strong recent earnings and revenue growth. Amazon.com had its buy rating reaffirmed by TD Cowen
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s Prime Video plans to invest 90 million euros in French film and TV production, adding another sign that the company is building out its entertainment and advertising ecosystem. Amazon.com’s Prime Video Set to Invest 90 Million Euros in French Film and TV Production
• Neutral Sentiment: Some articles note that large institutional investors trimmed Amazon holdings, which may reflect portfolio rebalancing rather than a fundamental change in the company’s outlook. Vulcan Value Partners cuts Amazon stake, sells 164,067 shares
• Negative Sentiment: Sen. Elizabeth Warren is pressing regulators to examine whether AI data centers run by Amazon and peers are pushing electricity costs higher for households, which could increase political and regulatory scrutiny around Amazon’s AI expansion. Elizabeth Warren Targets Amazon, Google, Microsoft And Meta
• Negative Sentiment: There are also reports that some Amazon employees are using internal AI tools for trivial tasks to boost usage metrics, which could raise questions about internal efficiency and AI adoption quality. Andy Jassy Just Said Something Big: Here’s What It Means for Amazon’s Stock

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMZN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $333.00 target price (up from $304.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, May 4th. Fifty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $313.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 3,706 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.02, for a total value of $1,011,812.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 74,948 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,462,302.96. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $7,562,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $129,624,275. The trade was a 5.51% 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 sold 190,593 shares of company stock worth $46,081,241. Insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $265.82 on Wednesday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a one year low of $196.00 and a one year high of $278.56. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $231.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.78. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $1.15. Amazon.com had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The firm had revenue of $181.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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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