Gradient Investments LLC Boosts Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 12.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 543,359 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after buying an additional 59,416 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com makes up 2.1% of Gradient Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $103,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Amazon.com by 8.2% during the first quarter. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC now owns 41,556 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $7,906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157 shares in the last quarter. Divergent Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 10.5% in the first quarter. Divergent Planning LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 5.6% in the first quarter. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC now owns 4,430 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $843,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.9% in the first quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 27,270 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $5,188,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 3.1% in the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 43,277 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $8,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AMZN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Amazon.com from $265.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Amazon.com from $248.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.89.

Amazon.com Price Performance

AMZN opened at $212.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.33. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $195.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.16. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12-month low of $151.61 and a 12-month high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $154.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Amazon.com's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.98, for a total value of $512,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 517,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,984,909. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,695 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total value of $541,129.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at $24,050,626.20. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,037 shares of company stock worth $20,531,075. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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