Hedge Funds Saw Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)’s Meteoric Rise Coming

Then, in a daring display of self-aggrandizement, Amazon busted out Amazon Prime Day on July 15, to celebrate the Seattle-based online retailer’s 20th anniversary. What could have resulted in an embarrassing collective yawn and slap in the face from the masses was instead a roaring success, with Amazon declaring a record number of Prime sign-ups in addition to a record number of sales: with a mind-boggling 34.4 million items being sold during the single-day event, topping the sales of any Black Friday that had preceded it. While there was much belly-aching on Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) about the lack of any jaw-dropping deals, the event was so momentous that Nomura is predicting it could single-handedly add as much as 0.6% to the retail sales figures for July.

Nonetheless, Amazon still has its detractors. In late June, Evercore ISI downgraded Amazon to ‘Hold’, saying the stock was near the firm’s target price of $460. It has gained another $76 since then. First Pacific Advisors also covered Amazon in its recent investor letter, explaining why it was staying away from Amazon and anyone who will be forced to take it on. Zenit Asset Management also sold off its position in Amazon during the second quarter, previously its top position with nearly 15% exposure to the stock. It replaced it with shares of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (which has had a nice little third quarter run of its own), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO).

It will be interesting to see the smart money sentiment towards Amazon as more filings are released leading up to the 13F deadline on August 15, for the latest reporting period. Be sure to follow our extensive filing coverage in the days and weeks ahead to see what the smart money foresees for Amazon from here, and what their newest hot stock picks will be for this quarter and beyond.

Disclosure: None