Ballast Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Ballast Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,479 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises about 1.2% of Ballast Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $3,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in 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 worth $13,466,933,000 after buying an additional 1,042,177 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Amazon.com by 0.4% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $7,917,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,150 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $72,921,080,000 after purchasing an additional 38,949,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 valued at $6,161,579,000 after purchasing an additional 464,938 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.81, for a total value of $1,132,366.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,911 shares in the company, valued at $106,797,072.91. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total transaction of $427,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 62,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,171,900. The trade was a 3.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,034,534 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,883,872 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMZN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $251.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.87.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN opened at $227.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 48.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.16. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.05 and a 52-week high of $231.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.72. 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 (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $158.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.28 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amazon.com Company 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.