Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC Takes Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,583 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,541,000. Amazon.com accounts for about 0.6% of Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 479,782 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $105,259,000 after acquiring an additional 35,533 shares during the period. Seeds Investor LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 16,245 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $3,564,000 after acquiring an additional 2,413 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,752,000. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 1,140.6% in the 4th quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP now owns 155,282 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $34,067,000 after purchasing an additional 142,765 shares during the period. Finally, Crux Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth $4,848,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Amazon.com stock traded up $4.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $213.04. 21,839,991 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,782,684. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.61 and a 12 month high of $242.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $188.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.25.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $155.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMZN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Amazon.com from $306.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $287.00 to $206.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $287.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Amazon.com to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Brian T. Olsavsky sold 14,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.14, for a total value of $3,262,306.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 49,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,933,860. This represents a 22.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 509,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,776,017.26. This trade represents a 0.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 107,298 shares of company stock valued at $23,818,478. 9.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.