Orca Investment Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Orca Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,298 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,408,000. Amazon.com accounts for 2.5% of Orca Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,266,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the second quarter worth $87,250,000. Pacific Sage Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at $14,997,000. TFR Capital LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at $10,101,000. Finally, One Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at $6,845,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of AMZN opened at $256.97 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $254.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $243.41. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.00 and a twelve month high of $287.20.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group set a $335.00 target price on Amazon.com and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $333.00 price target (up from $320.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up from $355.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.26.

Key Stories Impacting Amazon.com

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 other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.77, for a total transaction of $254,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 475,681 shares in the company, valued at $121,189,248.37. This trade represents a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,699,926.30. This represents a 18.35% decrease in their position. 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 have sold 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,568,785 in the last 90 days. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.