William Blair Investment Management LLC Makes New $473.60 Million Investment in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management acquired 1.99 million Amazon shares worth approximately $473.6 million in the second quarter, making Amazon its eighth-largest holding at 1.4% of the portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 72.2% of Amazon.
• Amazon reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 19.6% year over year to $200.61 billion and EPS of $5.75, well above estimates. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $321.19.
• Growth prospects from AWS and AI remain strong, but investors face risks from approximately $220 billion in planned 2026 capital expenditures, potential negative free cash flow, regulatory scrutiny, and recent insider sales conducted under Rule 10b5-1 plans.

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,987,085 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock, valued at approximately $473,602,000. Amazon.com makes up 1.4% of William Blair Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Harber Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter worth $6,428,000. Avanda Investment Management Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter worth $1,621,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the second quarter valued at $2,800,000. Concord Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the second quarter valued at $25,137,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,666,166,000. 72.20% of the stock is 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: Amazon agreed to purchase up to $8 billion of backup generators from Generac, including approximately $2.4 billion of deliveries in 2027–2028. The deal should help Amazon bring AWS data centers online despite grid-connection delays and power shortages, while Amazon receives warrants to purchase Generac shares. Generac Plugs into Amazon for an $8B AI-Powered Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to point to accelerating AWS demand, with reports citing a $169 billion annualized revenue run rate and a large cloud backlog. That supports expectations that AI-related infrastructure spending can translate into future sales, despite near-term cash-flow pressure. Amazon’s Andy Jassy Just Made a Startling Prediction
• Positive Sentiment: Project Mercury aims to expand Amazon’s same-day delivery network to more than 1,000 hubs by 2031. Bank of America called the initiative strategically important as Amazon attempts to narrow Walmart’s proximity and convenience advantage. Amazon’s secret weapon against Walmart could be a massive blitz in same-day delivery
• Positive Sentiment: AWS made its AI-powered hiring product, Amazon Connect Talent, generally available, expanding Amazon’s enterprise AI offerings beyond cloud infrastructure. Amazon has also received favorable attention from UBS analysts among top technology stock picks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is promoting industry and government cooperation on AI safety standards, emphasizing testing before release without calling for a broader slowdown in development. The stance may improve trust but is unlikely to materially change near-term results. Amazon Urges Industry and Government Partnership on AI Safeguards
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon faces European Commission scrutiny over marketplace rules that may restrict sellers from offering lower prices elsewhere, creating potential regulatory and compliance costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that roughly $220 billion of planned 2026 capital expenditures could keep free cash flow negative. Higher wages, delivery costs and possible electricity-grid charges for data centers add to the spending burden.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. senators have urged the FTC to investigate Amazon’s AI shopping tools over alleged suppression of U.S.-made products and misleading “Made in USA” labels. The company also continues to face reputational and legal attention related to its Prime settlement.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 14,541 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.06, for a total transaction of $3,766,991.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 17,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,713.64. This trade represents a 44.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.77, for a total transaction of $2,404,950.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,699,926.30. This trade represents a 18.35% 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 sold 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,568,785 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMZN shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Amazon.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $333.00 price objective (up from $320.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $320.00 price target (down from $330.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Fifty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $321.19.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

AMZN stock opened at $253.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.44. Amazon.com, Inc. has a one year low of $196.00 and a one year high of $287.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.60.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $3.93. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%.The company had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc is a global technology and e-commerce company that operates online marketplaces and provides a broad range of consumer products and services. Its retail business sells merchandise directly to customers and enables third-party sellers to offer products through Amazon's websites and applications. The company also operates physical stores and provides services such as digital content, subscriptions, and consumer devices, including Kindle and Echo products.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides cloud computing, storage, database, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technology services to businesses, governments, and organizations.

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