Welch Group LLC Buys 2,068 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Welch Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,464 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,068 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $14,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMZN. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,740 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its position in Amazon.com by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 1,633 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 886 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 3,076 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navalign LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 13,349 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $3,081,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon said its Leo satellite network has enough satellites to begin initial broadband service this year, opening a new growth opportunity in satellite internet. Reuters: Amazon to start initial Leo internet service this year as network nears 400 satellites
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon is expanding its AI strategy with custom device chips and broader AWS AI capabilities, which could support future margins and growth. CNBC: Amazon is designing its own AI chips for Echo, Fire TV and future devices
• Positive Sentiment: Prime Day-related reports pointed to strong online shopping demand, reinforcing confidence in Amazon’s retail momentum heading into earnings. Yahoo Finance/Reuters: Online Spending Rises 5.3% on First Day of Amazon’s Prime Day

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AMZN shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $275.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $280.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Amazon.com from a “moderate buy” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Fifty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.79.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $242.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $254.57 and a 200-day moving average of $234.57. The company has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.00 and a 52 week high of $278.56.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $1.15. Amazon.com had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The company had revenue of $181.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. Amazon.com’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.53, for a total transaction of $2,489,273.10. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,205,766 shares in the company, valued at $581,042,879.72. This trade represents a 0.90% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 195,774 shares of company stock valued at $51,643,704. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.