Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 423,343 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 40.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 621,178 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after selling 423,343 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $129,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 73,085 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $15,221,000 after purchasing an additional 5,125 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.7% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 303,862 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $63,285,000 after acquiring an additional 5,104 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 216,606 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $49,997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,854 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Amazon.com by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,653,228 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $5,690,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275,942 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 13.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 4,713 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMZN shares. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $318.00 price target on Amazon.com and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Amazon.com from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $293.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.56.

Amazon.com Stock Down 0.9%

AMZN stock opened at $262.65 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $247.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.00 and a twelve month high of $287.20.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Amazon.com News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying supports sentiment. Thrive Capital disclosed a roughly $215 million Amazon position, while Baupost Group added 625,100 shares and Dodge & Cox increased its holding by approximately 1.6 million shares. Thrive Capital discloses Amazon stake
• Positive Sentiment: AWS remains the central bullish catalyst. Commentary points to accelerating AWS growth for five consecutive quarters, a substantial backlog and customer demand extending into 2028. Amazon Web Services also became AppFolio’s preferred cloud provider, adding evidence of enterprise demand. AppFolio selects AWS
• Positive Sentiment: New growth opportunities are expanding. Amazon won a Space Force communications contract, while its AI infrastructure spending is helping drive demand for data-center and semiconductor suppliers. Analysts cited in recent coverage remain bullish on both Amazon and Alphabet. Amazon wins Space Force contract
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation remains a debate. Amazon is viewed favorably versus some large-cap peers, but coverage notes that its forward earnings multiple is higher than its trailing multiple. That may reflect expected earnings growth, though it leaves less room for execution disappointments.
• Negative Sentiment: Retail data raised demand concerns. U.S. retail sales fell in July, with online spending declining after Amazon’s summer sales event. Higher fuel and operating costs may also pressure big-box retailers and consumer purchasing power. July retail sales decline
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment brings financial and execution risk. Amazon and other hyperscalers are issuing significant debt to fund infrastructure expansion, increasing concerns about returns on spending and potential pressure on future profits. Amazon’s lack of a dividend may also limit appeal for income-focused investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Twitch backlash adds reputational risk. Twitch’s decision to use livestream content for Amazon AI training, with the feature reportedly enabled automatically, has angered creators and could create privacy, regulatory and user-retention concerns. Twitch AI data-sharing backlash

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.42, for a total transaction of $5,268,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,205,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,042,879.72. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,363 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.38, for a total transaction of $620,003.94. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 119,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,427,876.40. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,650 shares of company stock valued at $16,535,457. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

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.