Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Position Lifted by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 34.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,131 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 69,686,374 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $13,466,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,177 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 67,745,972 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $13,091,909,000 after buying an additional 289,532 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Amazon.com by 3.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 40,973,804 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $7,917,906,000 after buying an additional 1,329,150 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 20,897.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 39,135,449 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $72,921,080,000 after acquiring an additional 38,949,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 31,883,977 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $6,161,579,000 after acquiring an additional 464,938 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 88,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,273,459.55. The trade was a 4.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total transaction of $246,237.22. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,958,982.72. This represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock worth $1,253,456,822. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $227.05 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $209.04 and its 200-day moving average is $192.55. The company has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.62, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.09. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.05 and a 52-week high of $233.00.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued 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 return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 8.04%. The firm 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 company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMZN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Monday, December 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.00.

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.