Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. cut its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 20.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,628 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after selling 3,236 shares during the period. Amazon.com makes up 2.2% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $2,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in Amazon.com by 0.4% during the second quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 12,565 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,763,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,399 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 12,157 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.4% during the second quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 10,723 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $2,510,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA grew its position in Amazon.com by 0.3% during the second quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 17,821 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $3,910,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon is reportedly in talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI — a deal that would deepen Amazon’s AI relationships, drive AWS capacity demand and signal leadership in the AI era; this is being read as a long‑term growth catalyst. Amazon in Talks to Invest Up to $50 Billion in OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and big managers remain supportive — Telsey Advisory reiterated an “outperform” rating with a $300 price target and Tsai Capital highlighted AMZN as a high‑conviction idea, both underpinning bullish investor sentiment. Telsey Reaffirms Outperform on Amazon
• Positive Sentiment: AWS continues to land enterprise deals and collaborations (example: NTT DATA strategic agreement), which supports recurring cloud revenue growth independent of retail cycles. NTT DATA Signs Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is closing its Go and Fresh physical stores and refocusing grocery around online/Whole Foods — a strategic retrenchment that cuts cash burn but reduces brick‑and‑mortar exposure. Amazon is closing its futuristic Go and Fresh stores
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector context: Microsoft’s post‑earnings pullback highlights hyperscaler valuation sensitivity — investors may reprice capital‑intensive AI buildouts, a theme that affects AMZN too. Microsoft Drops After Earnings—Why the Bull Case Holds
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon announced further mass layoffs (about 16,000 corporate roles total; ~1,400 in Seattle, 700 in Bellevue) — cost savings can boost margins but large cuts raise execution, morale and public‑relations risks. Amazon Job Cuts Deliver Another Blow to Seattle Area’s Tech Workforce
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/regulatory risk: reports that Amazon’s AI training datasets contained high volumes of illegal/abusive content could prompt compliance costs, scrutiny, or slower AI rollouts. Amazon Stock Falls as AI Training Data Reveals “High Volume” of Child Abuse Content
• Negative Sentiment: Some large investors have trimmed AMZN positions (reports of Viking/other manager selling), and Bank of America recently lowered its price target — signals that institutional positioning may be shifting and could pressure near‑term sentiment. Billionaire Ole Andreas Halvorsen Dumped His Stakes in Nvidia and Amazon Bank of America Lowers Amazon Price Target

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMZN. China Renaissance increased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $278.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Mizuho downgraded Amazon.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna set a $300.00 target price on Amazon.com and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.91.

Amazon.com Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ AMZN opened at $239.30 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $233.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.37. Amazon.com, Inc. has a one year low of $161.38 and a one year high of $258.60.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $180.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.53 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 23.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 17,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.90, for a total value of $3,853,879.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,360,613.70. This trade represents a 73.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 4,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.71, for a total value of $1,113,284.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 498,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,931,933.22. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,561 shares of company stock valued at $10,989,862. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Profile

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.