Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 57,371 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,270,535 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after selling 57,371 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $278,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Amazon.com by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $66,926,008,000 after purchasing an additional 11,370,309 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 199,915,046 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $37,116,341,000 after purchasing an additional 6,545,944 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 57,833,954 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $10,776,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984,592 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Amazon.com by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,308,094 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $10,678,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,663 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Amazon.com by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,156,540 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $8,843,714,000 after purchasing an additional 257,072 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMZN shares. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $260.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.65.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total transaction of $4,585,989.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,118,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $467,532,195.90. This trade represents a 0.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 8,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.47, for a total transaction of $1,965,077.51. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,647,456.60. The trade was a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,298 shares of company stock worth $22,871,828 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $196.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.06. Amazon.com, Inc. has a one year low of $151.61 and a one year high of $242.52. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.19.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 24.25%. Equities analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.