Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,215,571 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after purchasing an additional 150,660 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com makes up 0.9% of Rafferty Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $266,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Amazon.com by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 45,153 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $9,906,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. West Coast Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 3,032.6% during the 4th quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 50,685 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $11,120,000 after purchasing an additional 49,067 shares during the period. BFI Infinity Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at about $622,000. Sanders Morris Harris LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 16,987 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $3,743,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,695 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.79, for a total value of $541,129.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,050,626.20. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.99, for a total transaction of $469,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 509,474 shares in the company, valued at $95,776,017.26. The trade was a 0.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,537 shares of company stock worth $20,018,625 in the last quarter. 9.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

AMZN stock traded down $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $203.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 51,641,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,089,558. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.88, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.30. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1 year low of $151.61 and a 1 year high of $242.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $190.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.70.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.21. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $154.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMZN. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Amazon.com from $280.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Amazon.com from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Amazon.com from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Amazon.com from $260.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.09.

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.