Westend Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 49,440 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock, valued at approximately $8,918,000. Amazon.com accounts for about 3.5% of Westend Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,700,551,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 4.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 757,951,795 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $96,350,832,000 after purchasing an additional 32,038,029 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 16,029.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 23,865,216 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $36,260,810,000 after purchasing an additional 23,717,254 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Amazon.com by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 302,101,441 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $38,403,135,000 after purchasing an additional 21,649,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 92,329,336 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $11,736,905,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260,411 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.73, for a total transaction of $632,555.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 512,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,688,826.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.73, for a total value of $632,555.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 512,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,688,826.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam Selipsky sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.38, for a total value of $90,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,688,228. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,338 shares of company stock worth $11,894,344 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMZN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on Amazon.com from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.74.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Amazon.com stock opened at $193.61 on Thursday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.35 and a fifty-two week high of $194.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.23, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.14.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $143.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.65 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 6.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 4.72 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.