Artemis Investment Management LLP Reduces Stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Artemis Investment Management LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 20.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 929,804 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 238,769 shares during the period. Amazon.com accounts for about 2.7% of Artemis Investment Management LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $176,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMZN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,266,582,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 21,420.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 30,245,061 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $5,754,425,000 after buying an additional 30,104,520 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 65,709,496 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $14,416,078,000 after buying an additional 17,681,004 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 823,360,597 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $180,637,081,000 after buying an additional 17,635,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 17,054.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,088,589 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $2,652,116,000 after buying an additional 12,018,120 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $254.33.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

AMZN stock traded up $3.94 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $232.23. The stock had a trading volume of 42,816,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,781,048. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.84. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $151.61 and a fifty-two week high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $155.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $154.96 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 24.14%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 2,339,470 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.39, for a total value of $536,651,023.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 887,933,999 shares in the company, valued at $203,683,180,030.61. This trade represents a 0.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.06, for a total transaction of $550,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 514,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,231,873. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,947,939 shares of company stock valued at $4,720,588,785. Corporate insiders own 9.70% of the company's stock.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscriptions service through online and physical stores in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero; and develops and produces media content.