Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Raises Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Key Points

• Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its ownership in Amazon.com by 89.8% during the first quarter, totaling 47,489 shares valued at approximately $9 million.
• Amazon's stock experienced a slight decline of 0.8%, with trading at around $231.01 and a market cap of $2.45 trillion.
• Insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold over 2.6 million shares of Amazon stock for more than $609 million, reducing his ownership stake by 0.30%.

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 89.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,489 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after purchasing an additional 22,467 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $9,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 823,360,597 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $180,637,081,000 after buying an additional 17,635,391 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 328,464,225 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $72,061,766,000 after buying an additional 1,725,664 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 204,930,426 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $44,837,256,000 after buying an additional 5,015,380 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 182,813,905 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $40,107,544,000 after buying an additional 4,087,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,266,582,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Trading Down 8.3%

NASDAQ:AMZN traded down $19.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $214.75. The company had a trading volume of 122,007,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,843,602. The company has a market cap of $2.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1 year low of $151.61 and a 1 year high of $242.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $217.93 and a 200 day moving average of $209.23.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $167.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMZN. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $288.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $245.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $230.00 to $266.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $260.85.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 4,273,237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 897,722,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $201,816,902,603.28. This represents a 0.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,099,537 shares of company stock worth $5,674,394,548. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amazon.com 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.