Douglas Herrington Sells 3,741 Shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Douglas Herrington sold 3,741 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.76, for a total value of $982,985.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 467,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,745,180.88. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Amazon.com Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $259.92 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.00 and a fifty-two week high of $287.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $249.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.45.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $200.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMZN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $280.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. 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. Finally, Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $333.00 price target (up from $320.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.39.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Banco de Sabadell S.A grew its stake in Amazon.com by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A now owns 20,242 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $4,824,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. increased its position in Amazon.com by 98.9% during the second quarter. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. now owns 472,003 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $112,497,000 after buying an additional 234,748 shares during the period. Lone Peak Global Investors LLC lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 6.1% in the second quarter. Lone Peak Global Investors LLC now owns 112,671 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $26,854,000 after buying an additional 6,441 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 3.4% in the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 96,122 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $22,910,000 after buying an additional 3,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 4.4% in the second quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 14,710 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $3,506,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI and AWS positioning: An analyst said the market is not giving Amazon enough credit for its AI strategy. AWS reportedly grew 37% year over year to $42.2 billion, while its AI business surpassed a $25 billion annualized revenue run rate. AWS backlog also reportedly reached $496 billion, supporting expectations for continued cloud growth. Amazon not getting enough credit for AI positioning
• Positive Sentiment: Prime Video expansion: Amazon committed $2 billion through 2030 to expand Prime Video’s original content, sports rights and third-party streaming offerings across Latin America. The investment could strengthen international engagement and broaden long-term advertising and subscription opportunities. Amazon commits $2 billion to expand Prime Video across Latin America
• Positive Sentiment: Investor and analyst support: David Tepper and Stanley Druckenmiller increased their Amazon positions during the second quarter. Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $335 price target, while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $322.56. Cathie Wood and Stanley Druckenmiller Agree On Amazon
• Neutral Sentiment: Drone delivery rollout: Prime Air is planned for nearly 500 U.S. cities by year-end, with deliveries potentially arriving within 30 minutes. The expansion could improve fulfillment differentiation, but regulatory, noise, privacy and execution challenges may limit the financial payoff. Amazon to expand drone service to nearly 500 cities
• Negative Sentiment: AI earnings-quality concerns: Investors are scrutinizing a reported $53.4 billion benefit tied to Anthropic’s higher valuation, worrying that paper gains may obscure underlying cash generation. Amazon’s large AI capital requirements could also pressure returns if demand fails to justify the spending. Amazon Falls as AI Gain Faces Scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Delivery-provider change: UPS is phasing out most last-mile delivery services for Amazon, potentially requiring Amazon to shift more volume to its own logistics network or other carriers. That could increase near-term fulfillment costs and operational complexity. UPS Is Walking Away From Amazon

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.