Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Key Points

• Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its stake in Amazon.com, owning 555,968 shares after selling 32,373 shares, making it the fund's 7th largest position at approximately $105.8 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently acquired new stakes in Amazon.com, contributing to institutional investors owning 72.20% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have given Amazon.com a consensus rating of "Buy" with an average price target of $262.45, with multiple firms raising their price targets on the stock.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lessened its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 555,968 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 32,373 shares during the period. Amazon.com makes up approximately 1.6% of Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $105,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMZN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 17,635,391 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 328,464,225 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $72,061,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725,664 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 204,930,426 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $44,837,256,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,380 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 182,813,905 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $40,107,544,000 after purchasing an additional 4,087,933 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth about $27,266,582,000. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 2,643,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.43, for a total transaction of $609,059,211.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 883,779,901 shares in the company, valued at $203,649,402,587.43. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 25,099,537 shares of company stock worth $5,674,394,548 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on AMZN shares. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amazon.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $262.45.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMZN traded up $3.07 on Tuesday, reaching $214.72. 12,112,218 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,828,645. The company has a fifty day moving average of $218.42 and a 200-day moving average of $208.93. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.54 and a twelve month high of $242.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.37. Amazon.com had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 23.84%. The business had revenue of $167.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amazon.com Company Profile

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.