Next Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Next Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 30,407 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock, valued at approximately $7,247,000. Amazon.com accounts for about 2.0% of Next Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 832,274,556 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $158,348,557,000 after acquiring an additional 8,913,959 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 388,653,121 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $89,708,913,000 after acquiring an additional 6,971,680 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 225,120,994 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $51,753,622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479,324 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,868,735,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 27,376.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 98,448,885 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,272,397,000 after purchasing an additional 98,090,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of AMZN opened at $256.97 on Wednesday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.00 and a 12-month high of $287.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $254.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $243.41.

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

Key Amazon.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AWS expands its custom-chip strategy. Amazon and Qualcomm announced a multi-generation collaboration to develop customized AI data-center silicon, initially focused on AWS inference, along with optical-connectivity solutions of up to 1.6T. The agreement diversifies Amazon’s supply chain beyond Nvidia, Broadcom and its internally developed Trainium chips, while supporting AWS’s long-term AI infrastructure buildout. Qualcomm Announces Multi-Generational Product Collaboration with Amazon
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability remains a key investment argument. Commentary highlighted AWS’s roughly 39% operating margin and recent acceleration in cloud growth as reasons investors may view Amazon’s valuation as attractive, particularly with the stock trading near its 50-day moving average and below its recent high. Amazon’s AWS Operating Margin
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is preparing a sterling bond offering. The company has hired banks for its first sterling-denominated bond sale, apparently seeking additional funding sources for major AI and infrastructure investments. The move may improve financing flexibility, but it also underscores the scale of Amazon’s capital requirements. Amazon Hires Banks for First Sterling Bond Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Fatal Prime Air crash increases operational and reputational risk. Federal investigators are examining why a contractor-operated Boeing 767 cargo jet overshot the Miami runway by about 1,300 feet, killing five people. The investigation could bring additional scrutiny to Amazon Air’s contractor oversight, logistics practices and potential liability. Investigators Probe Amazon Cargo Plane Crash
• Negative Sentiment: Employment lawsuit adds legal and regulatory uncertainty. Four former warehouse workers allege Amazon discriminated against pregnant employees by penalizing medically necessary breaks and absences. The class-action complaint could create litigation costs and renewed scrutiny of warehouse labor policies. Amazon Sued for Allegedly Discriminating Against Pregnant Workers

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.77, for a total value of $2,404,950.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,699,926.30. This represents a 18.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 14,541 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.06, for a total value of $3,766,991.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,713.64. This trade represents a 44.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 valued at $18,568,785 in the last ninety days. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up from $355.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $280.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One research 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.26.

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc is a global technology and e-commerce company that operates online marketplaces and provides a broad range of consumer products and services. Its retail business sells merchandise directly to customers and enables third-party sellers to offer products through Amazon’s websites and applications. The company also operates physical stores and provides services such as digital content, subscriptions, and consumer devices, including Kindle and Echo products.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides cloud computing, storage, database, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technology services to businesses, governments, and organizations.