Sapient Capital LLC Trims Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Sapient Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 29.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 392,387 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after selling 167,392 shares during the period. Amazon.com accounts for approximately 1.2% of Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $81,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MilWealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 79.0% in the fourth quarter. MilWealth Group LLC now owns 179 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Amazon.com by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 200 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in Amazon.com by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 221 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 87.7% in the 4th quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. now owns 229 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMZN has been the subject of several research reports. DZ Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $335.00 target price on Amazon.com and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $328.00 target price (up from $322.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wedbush boosted their price target on Amazon.com from $293.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.56.

Amazon.com News Summary

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 news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.53, for a total value of $2,489,273.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 41,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,060,750.70. This represents a 18.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,363 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.38, for a total value of $620,003.94. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 119,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,427,876.40. This trade represents a 1.93% 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 have sold a total of 62,650 shares of company stock valued at $16,535,457 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $262.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.66. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.00 and a 52 week high of $287.20.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

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.