Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Stock: WestEnd Advisors LLC Reduces Stake

WestEnd Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,850 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after selling 15,908 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com accounts for approximately 0.9% of WestEnd Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $39,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 2.3% during the first quarter. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,509 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sfam LLC raised its position in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Sfam LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. raised its position in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. now owns 1,206 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $243,470.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 473,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,327,113.07. This trade represents a 0.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew Garman sold 14,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 17,794 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,713.64. The trade was a 44.97% 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. Insiders sold a total of 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,545,595 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMZN. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wedbush lowered their price target on Amazon.com from $310.00 to $298.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (up from $318.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $365.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-five have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.74.

Amazon.com Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:AMZN traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $266.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 31,035,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,501,436. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.32. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.00 and a 1 year high of $287.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.08). Amazon.com had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 16.90%. The company had revenue of $201.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.80 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Recent Amazon.com Headlines

Investors following AMZN have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon remains an AI and cloud growth story: a recent investor article cited AWS revenue growth of 39% and projected growth above 40% in 2027 and 2028. Continued cloud momentum may support the investment case. The Motley Fool article
• Neutral Sentiment: A planned launch of 40 Amazon Leo satellites could advance its satellite-internet service, although the launch itself does not establish the service’s eventual commercial returns. TipRanks article
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon’s European unit and managers could face a criminal trial in Italy over alleged unpaid import VAT and customs duties on third-party cross-border sales. A trial could bring legal costs, penalties, or reputational risk; the allegations have not been resolved. Yahoo Finance article

Amazon.com Profile

Amazon.com, Inc. is a technology and e-commerce company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online bookstore. It has since grown into a global business serving consumers, sellers, developers, enterprises and content creators. Amazon operates online stores and marketplaces, where it sells products directly and enables third-party sellers to reach customers. Its other businesses include Amazon Web Services, which provides cloud computing and related services; digital advertising; Prime memberships; and entertainment offerings such as streaming video and music.