Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stake Lessened by Sphera Funds Management LTD.

Sphera Funds Management LTD. cut its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 40.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,607 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 43,000 shares during the period. Amazon.com accounts for 2.5% of Sphera Funds Management LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Sphera Funds Management LTD.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $13,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $180,637,081,000 after acquiring an additional 17,635,391 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 204,930,426 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $44,837,256,000 after buying an additional 5,015,380 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 182,813,905 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $40,107,544,000 after buying an additional 4,087,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,266,582,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $255.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $306.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $244.09.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.67, for a total value of $476,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 506,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $96,664,732.58. The trade was a 0.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith Brian Alexander sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.68, for a total value of $210,680.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,465 shares in the company, valued at $1,151,366.20. The trade was a 15.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,537 shares of company stock worth $20,018,625 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.70% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of AMZN traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $203.93. 51,641,602 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 42,089,558. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $151.61 and a 52 week high of $242.52. The company 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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