Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Buys 153,510 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 6,140.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,010 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 153,510 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises approximately 2.4% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $29,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 64.6% during the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 163 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Amazon.com during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC purchased a new position in Amazon.com during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 300 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In related news, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total transaction of $246,237.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,912 shares in the company, valued at $4,958,982.72. This represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total transaction of $427,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 62,420 shares in the company, valued at $12,171,900. This represents a 3.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,034,534 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,883,872 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMZN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark boosted their price target on Amazon.com from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.67.

Amazon.com Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $231.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 49.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.16. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.05 and a twelve month high of $233.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.67 and a 200 day moving average of $190.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $158.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.28 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 8.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

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.