Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC Acquires 3,319 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 31.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,915 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises 1.4% of Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $3,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 73,085 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $15,221,000 after acquiring an additional 5,125 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $63,285,000 after acquiring an additional 5,104 shares in the last quarter. Narwhal Capital Management grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 216,606 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $49,997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,854 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,653,228 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $5,690,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $9,063,000 after purchasing an additional 4,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMZN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Amazon.com from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Phillip Securities lowered Amazon.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up from $355.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (down from $330.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.56.

Key Headlines Impacting Amazon.com

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

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.42, for a total transaction of $5,268,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 15,467 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.40, for a total transaction of $4,074,007.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,729,480.60. The trade was a 52.21% 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. Insiders sold a total of 62,650 shares of company stock worth $16,535,457 in the last ninety days. 8.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $262.65 on Monday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.00 and a fifty-two week high of $287.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.45. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.66.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $3.93. The firm had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%.The company’s revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Amazon.com 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.