M&G Plc Boosts Holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

M&G Plc lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 162,932 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,518 shares during the period. M&G Plc’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $31,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Strid Group LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the first quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.29, for a total transaction of $620,515.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 523,253 shares in the company, valued at $92,767,524.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.29, for a total transaction of $620,515.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 523,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,767,524.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.77, for a total transaction of $3,757,123.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,056,534 shares in the company, valued at $371,759,651.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,107,817 shares of company stock worth $1,221,241,837. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amazon.com Stock Down 1.3 %

AMZN stock opened at $170.80 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 47.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.15. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.35 and a fifty-two week high of $201.20.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.18. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 7.35%. The company had revenue of $147.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.63 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMZN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Amazon.com from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Maxim Group increased their target price on Amazon.com from $238.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their price target on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.36.

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.