Riverwater Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 39.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,961 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Amazon.com by 72.7% in the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 190 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Amazon.com stock traded up $3.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $222.54. 38,034,550 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 42,037,661. The company's fifty day moving average is $207.80 and its 200-day moving average is $208.58. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.24, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.33. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. Amazon.com had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 24.14%. The firm had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $154.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.06, for a total transaction of $550,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 514,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,231,873. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian T. Olsavsky sold 17,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.57, for a total transaction of $3,577,867.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 49,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,876,930. This represents a 26.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,401,408 shares of company stock valued at $1,423,159,137 in the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMZN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $195.00 price target (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Amazon.com from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $280.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Amazon.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $246.41.

Amazon.com Company 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.