First County Bank CT Reduces Its Stake in Amazon.com, Inc.

First County Bank CT has decreased its investment in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 8.7% during the second quarter, as detailed in the latest 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After selling 2,401 shares in this period, the bank now owns 25,168 shares of the e-commerce leader. Amazon.com represents approximately 2.5% of First County Bank CT’s total portfolio, making it the institution's eighth largest holding. The value of First County Bank CT's holdings in Amazon.com reached $4,864,000 at the close of the latest reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made moves regarding Amazon.com shares. For example, Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings by 12.7% in the first quarter, now owning 172,590 shares valued at $31,132,000 after acquiring an additional 19,478 shares. Riverview Trust Co raised its position by 2.9% to 19,261 shares, worth $3,474,000 following a purchase of 534 additional shares. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake by 12.4%, now owning 16,292 shares valued at $2,939,000 with 1,799 shares added in the last quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. expanded its holdings by 2.3%, resulting in a total of 26,190 shares valued at $4,724,000. Additionally, Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its position by 29.6%, owning 10,109 shares now worth $1,823,000 after buying 2,311 extra shares. Overall, institutional investors and hedge funds own about 72.20% of Amazon's stock.

Recent Analyst Ratings

Several research firms have provided updates on Amazon.com. Scotiabank began coverage with a "sector outperform" rating and set a price target of $245.00 for the stock. Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its "outperform" rating and maintained a price target of $215.00. Wedbush also reiterated an "outperform" rating with a $225.00 target. Additionally, Pivotal Research initiated coverage with a "buy" recommendation, setting a target price of $260.00. Sanford C. Bernstein raised its target from $210.00 to $215.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating. Reviewing analyst opinions, two have rated Amazon with a hold, 42 have given it a buy, and one has a strong buy rating. MarketBeat indicates a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $236.78.

Insider Trading Activity

In other news concerning Amazon, Senior Vice President David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the company on September 24, at an average price of $195.00, totaling $427,050. After the sale, Zapolsky retained 62,420 shares valued at approximately $12,171,900, reflecting no change in ownership percentage. CEO Andrew R. Jassy also sold 20,784 shares on August 21, priced at an average of $180.77, amounting to $3,757,123.68. His remaining stock consists of 2,056,534 shares valued at about $371,759,651.18, which likewise showed no change in ownership percentage. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold a total of 54,355 shares, valued at $9,877,423, while 10.80% of the company’s stock is currently held by insiders.

Amazon.com Stock Overview

As of Friday, shares of AMZN opened at $187.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. With a market capitalization of $1.95 trillion, Amazon's price-to-earnings ratio stands at 52.61, with a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's 50-day moving average is $183.50 while its 200-day moving average is $183.56. Amazon has seen a 12-month low of $118.35 and a high of $201.20.

The e-commerce giant last reported earnings on August 1, delivering $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, outpacing the analysts' consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.18. Amazon's return on equity was recorded at 21.39%, with a net margin of 7.35%. Revenue for the quarter was $147.98 billion compared to the consensus of $148.63 billion. Analysts forecast that Amazon.com will post an EPS of 4.85 for the current year.

Understanding Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. specializes in retail sales of consumer products, advertising, and subscription services through both its online and physical shops across North America and internationally. The company operates in three main segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Additionally, Amazon develops and sells various electronic devices, including Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo devices, Ring home security, Blink cameras, and eero home Wi-Fi systems, along with creating and producing media content.

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