Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Acquires 404,872 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 176.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 633,909 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after buying an additional 404,872 shares during the period. Amazon.com makes up approximately 1.0% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $139,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the second quarter worth $27,000. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 81.9% in the 2nd quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 211 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Cooksen Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 23.5% during the second quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC now owns 247 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Amazon.com in the first quarter worth $59,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 8,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.03, for a total value of $2,043,495.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 80,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,009,900.90. This represents a 9.27% 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 Matthew S. Garman sold 17,768 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.90, for a total value of $3,853,879.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 6,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,360,613.70. This represents a 73.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,234 shares of company stock valued at $19,076,767. Insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN opened at $226.19 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.38 and a 52 week high of $258.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.87.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.38. Amazon.com had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 23.62%. The firm had revenue of $180.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMZN. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, December 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Rothschild Redb cut Amazon.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.43.

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.