Principal Securities Inc. Acquires 1,876 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Key Points

• Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Amazon.com by 0.7% during the first quarter, owning 269,503 shares valued at approximately $51 million, making it the 11th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold over 2.6 million shares of Amazon stock, resulting in a decrease of his position by 0.30%, with total insider sales in the last 90 days amounting to over $5.6 billion.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Amazon, with Susquehanna boosting their target from $225 to $260, resulting in a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $262.45.

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 269,503 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Amazon.com accounts for 1.2% of Principal Securities Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $51,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prodigy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Financial Symmetry Inc lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Symmetry Inc now owns 3,357 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,630 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 509,088 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $96,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,381 shares during the period. Finally, Silphium Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 28,709 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $5,462,000 after purchasing an additional 3,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of AMZN traded up $8.44 on Wednesday, reaching $222.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 54,656,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,179,059. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.38 and a twelve month high of $242.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.87, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $218.57 and a 200-day moving average of $208.96.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.37. Amazon.com had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 23.84%. The company had revenue of $167.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 2,643,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.43, for a total value of $609,059,211.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 883,779,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,649,402,587.43. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.00, for a total transaction of $542,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 512,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $111,114,850. This trade represents a 0.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,102,037 shares of company stock valued at $5,674,937,048. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AMZN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $235.00 price target on Amazon.com and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $262.45.

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.