New Century Financial Group LLC Reduces Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

New Century Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 81.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,702 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 11,618 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,266,582,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 21,420.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 30,245,061 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $5,754,425,000 after acquiring an additional 30,104,520 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 65,709,496 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $14,416,078,000 after acquiring an additional 17,681,004 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 823,360,597 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $180,637,081,000 after acquiring an additional 17,635,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 17,054.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,088,589 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $2,652,116,000 after acquiring an additional 12,018,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Amazon.com from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $254.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Amazon.com from $280.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas upgraded Amazon.com from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Amazon.com from $285.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $245.81.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In related news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,695 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total transaction of $541,129.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,050,626.20. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.99, for a total value of $469,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 509,474 shares in the company, valued at $95,776,017.26. This trade represents a 0.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,037 shares of company stock valued at $20,531,075 over the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amazon.com Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $223.30 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $202.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.72. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.61 and a 52-week high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.21. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current 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.

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