Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Stock: Vantage Investment Partners LLC Cuts Holdings

Vantage Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 194,976 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after selling 7,144 shares during the period. Amazon.com makes up about 2.9% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $48,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.3% in the first quarter. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.7% during the third quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.7% during the first quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,509 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Sfam LLC raised its position in Amazon.com by 3.4% in the first quarter. Sfam LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. raised its position in Amazon.com by 3.4% in the first quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. now owns 1,206 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AMZN shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “conviction-buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-five have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Douglas Herrington sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $243,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 473,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,327,113.07. This represents a 0.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 14,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.06, for a total transaction of $3,766,991.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 17,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,713.64. This trade represents a 44.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 71,589 shares of company stock valued at $18,545,595 over the last three months. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amazon.com Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMZN traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $266.66. The company had a trading volume of 31,035,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,501,436. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.99. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.00 and a 1-year high of $287.20. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $244.32.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by ($0.08). Amazon.com had a net margin of 16.90% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $201.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.95 earnings per share. Amazon.com’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.80 earnings per share for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Amazon.com

These are some of the AMZN headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s planned World Product Graph would catalog products available across the internet, including items Amazon doesn’t stock. If it makes Amazon a starting point for more shopping searches, it could strengthen product discovery and attract advertising revenue. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon updated Alexa’s shopping capabilities, but the report noted the stock weakened despite the changes, suggesting investors may want evidence of meaningful adoption or revenue impact. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: A planned launch of 40 Amazon Leo satellites could advance its satellite-internet service, although the launch itself does not establish the service’s eventual commercial returns. TipRanks article

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is a technology and e-commerce company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online bookstore. It has since grown into a global business serving consumers, sellers, developers, enterprises and content creators. Amazon operates online stores and marketplaces, where it sells products directly and enables third-party sellers to reach customers. Its other businesses include Amazon Web Services, which provides cloud computing and related services; digital advertising; Prime memberships; and entertainment offerings such as streaming video and music.