Plato Investment Management Ltd Increases Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 214,912 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,503 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com accounts for about 3.2% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $40,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 5,004 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.85, for a total transaction of $1,000,049.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 99,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,864,290.60. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 2,996,362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.85, for a total transaction of $625,790,203.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 917,416,976 shares in the company, valued at $191,602,535,437.60. This represents a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock worth $1,253,456,822 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMZN shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Amazon.com from $251.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Amazon.com from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.00.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

AMZN stock opened at $229.05 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.05 and a twelve month high of $233.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $206.58 and its 200-day moving average is $191.74. The company has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 49.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.16.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $158.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.28 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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.