Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 89,439 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 18.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 389,932 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after selling 89,439 shares during the period. Amazon.com makes up about 1.5% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $81,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 832,274,556 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $158,348,557,000 after purchasing an additional 8,913,959 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 388,653,121 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $89,708,913,000 after buying an additional 6,971,680 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Amazon.com by 1.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,868,735,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 27,376.7% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 98,090,585 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of Amazon.com stock opened at $242.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.00 and a twelve month high of $278.56. The stock 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 fifty day moving average price of $254.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.57.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $1.15. The firm had revenue of $181.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.28 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMZN. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Amazon.com from $296.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Fifty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.79.

More Amazon.com News

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $620,003.94. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 15,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.40, for a total value of $4,074,007.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,729,480.60. This represents a 52.21% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,774 shares of company stock worth $51,643,704. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

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.