Private Advisor Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Key Points

• Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. by 1.6% in the first quarter, after selling 16,384 shares, bringing their total to 978,321 shares worth approximately $186 million.
• Amazon recently reported earnings of $1.68 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, while revenue increased by 13.3% year-over-year to $167.70 billion.
• Equities analysts are optimistic about Amazon, with multiple firms raising their price targets and a consensus rating of "Buy", averaging a target price of $262.87.

Private Advisor Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 978,321 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 16,384 shares during the period. Amazon.com accounts for about 1.1% of Private Advisor Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $186,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Amazon.com by 72.7% during the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 190 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AMZN shares. Wall Street Zen raised Amazon.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Amazon.com from $245.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $262.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 4,273,237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.81, for a total transaction of $960,666,409.97. Following the sale, the insider owned 897,722,088 shares in the company, valued at $201,816,902,603.28. This represents a 0.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 25,096,253 shares of company stock worth $5,673,745,409 over the last three months. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMZN traded up $0.05 on Friday, hitting $231.03. 39,600,434 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 47,994,872. The business's fifty day moving average is $221.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.64. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.38 and a 12 month high of $242.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.02.

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

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.