Verity Asset Management Inc. Acquires 6,972 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 73.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,468 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after acquiring an additional 6,972 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises about 1.3% of Verity Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Verity Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $3,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Amazon.com by 72.7% in the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 190 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Amazon.com stock traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $231.44. 28,649,591 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,402,120. The business's 50-day moving average is $215.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.33. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.61 and a 12 month high of $242.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.21. The company 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler set a $250.00 price target on Amazon.com and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $235.00 price target on Amazon.com and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Roth Capital set a $250.00 price target on Amazon.com and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.33.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 4,273,237 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.81, for a total value of $960,666,409.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 897,722,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $201,816,902,603.28. This trade represents a 0.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,102,037 shares of company stock valued at $5,674,871,223. Company 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.