Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases 4,800 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• Welch & Forbes LLC increased its Amazon stake by 0.9% in the first quarter, adding 4,800 shares to bring its total to 567,966 shares worth about $118.3 million.
• Amazon continues to draw strong Wall Street support, with 57 analysts rating it a Buy and a consensus price target of $312.91, despite the stock recently trading down 0.7% to $232.11.
• The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, as Q1 EPS came in at $2.78 versus $1.63 expected and revenue reached $181.52 billion, up 16.6% year over year.

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 567,966 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Amazon.com accounts for 1.5% of Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $118,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MilWealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 79.0% in the 4th quarter. MilWealth Group LLC now owns 179 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 200 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in Amazon.com by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 221 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Amazon.com by 87.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. now owns 229 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in 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: Options data and several analyst/commentary pieces suggest traders expect a post-earnings move higher, and multiple firms remain bullish on AMZN heading into the July 30 report. Ahead of Amazon Earnings, Here's What Barchart Data Says Comes Next for AMZN Stock
• Positive Sentiment: India eased e-commerce export rules, which is a win for Amazon’s international marketplace ambitions and could support long-term growth. India relaxes e-commerce investment rules for exports in win for Amazon
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish research notes continue to frame AWS, custom silicon, and Amazon’s AI buildout as long-term growth drivers, with some investors arguing the capex surge should ultimately strengthen Amazon’s competitive moat. Amazon: Why The CapEx Surge Makes Me More Bullish, Not Less

Amazon.com Stock Down 0.7%

AMZN stock opened at $232.11 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.00 and a 52 week high of $278.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.46.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $1.15. The firm had revenue of $181.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.28 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 19.92%. Amazon.com's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.59 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMZN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp set a $335.00 price objective on Amazon.com and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $275.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 price target (down from $350.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Fifty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.53, for a total transaction of $2,489,273.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,060,750.70. The trade was a 18.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.77, for a total value of $239,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 484,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $116,175,038.79. This represents a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 140,425 shares of company stock valued at $37,715,464 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

About Amazon.com

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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