Editor's note: Bezos' most recent distribution in November was made outside of a automatic distribution plan.
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is unloading some of his stock in the online retailer. But he still keeps a strong ownership grip on the S&P 500 company.
The billionaire disclosed dispensing of more than 2.2 million shares in Amazon.com as of Nov. 16, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith. Amazingly though, he still owns 988.3 million shares valued at more than $144.9 billion.
What does this mean for the company's ownership? Even after the recent share distribution, and transferring millions of shares to his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, Bezos still owns 9.6% of the company. That makes him the No. 1 shareholder.
These facts also underscore Bezos' important role at the key S&P 500 company other than just executive chairman. Amazon.com CEO Andrew Jassy only own 2.1 million shares, barely putting him in the top 300 largest shareholders.
Who Owns Amazon.com Now?
Bezos is still the top dog at Amazon.com. But his divorce and recent stock gifts and sales in the past are making ETF and mutual fund companies more important in the company's ownership ranks.
Vanguard Group is now a larger No. 2 holder of the company's stock. The ETF giant owns nearly 758 million shares amounting to 7.3% of the shares outstanding. Just Vanguard 500 Index ETF alone owns more than 81 million shares of Amazon.com, says ETF.com.
Then comes iShares operator BlackRock and SPDR operator State Street Global Advisors. Those two investors own 613.4 million and 332.4 million shares, respectively, of Amazon.com stock.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF owns more Amazon.com stock than any other ETF: roughly 103 million shares. And BlackRock's iShares Core S&P 500 ETF is the No. 2 largest holder of stock to the tune of roughly 88 million shares.
What About Owning Amazon.com Now?
S&P 500 analysts are still bullish on the stock even as Bezos is lowering his stake. They're calling for the stock to rise another 18% in the next 12 months to 173.37 a share.
That's an impressive run given that the stock is already up 75% this year. Meanwhile, the company has the fundamentals to back up the bullishness. Analysts think the company will make $2.67 a share this year, up from a 27-cents a share loss in 2022. And in 2024, earnings per share are seen rising another 28%.
Now you can see why investors are still buying — even as Bezos is lightening up.
Top Amazon.com Holders
| Holder | Common stock held (millions) | % of common stock | Market value ($ billions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bezos, Jeffrey P. | 988.3 | 9.5% | $145.0 |
| Vanguard Group | 758.0 | 7.3 | 111.2 |
| BlackRock | 613.4 | 5.9 | 90.0 |
| State Street Global Advisors | 332.4 | 3.2 | 48.8 |
| FMR | 284.7 | 2.7 | 41.8 |
| Scott, MacKenzie | 266.1 | 2.5 | 39.0 |
| T. Rowe Price Group | 223.5 | 2.1 | 32.8 |
| Geode Capital Management | 176.2 | 1.7 | 25.9 |
| Capital Research and Management | 136.3 | 1.3 | 20.0 |
| JP Morgan Asset Management | 121.1 | 1.1 | 17.8 |
