Bell Bank Boosts Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Bell Bank increased its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,719 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com comprises approximately 1.4% of Bell Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Bell Bank’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $11,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospect Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Amazon.com by 5.3% during the second quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 24,588 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $4,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 538,657 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $104,095,000 after purchasing an additional 2,280 shares during the last quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at about $477,000. New Hampshire Trust grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 1.4% during the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 65,937 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $12,742,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Udine Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.4% in the second quarter. Udine Wealth Management Inc. now owns 17,209 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $3,326,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Amazon.com stock opened at $229.05 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $206.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 49.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Amazon.com, Inc. has a one year low of $144.05 and a one year high of $233.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,958,982.72. The trade was a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.85, for a total value of $1,000,077.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 88,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,273,459.55. This represents a 4.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,456,822 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.00.

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.