Sterling Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Sterling Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,773 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises approximately 0.6% of Sterling Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Sterling Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $1,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 82,457.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 11,405,294 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,125,148,000 after purchasing an additional 11,391,479 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $66,926,008,000 after purchasing an additional 11,370,309 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Amazon.com by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 199,915,046 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $37,116,341,000 after purchasing an additional 6,545,944 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Amazon.com by 13,606.7% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 3,932,580 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $759,971,000 after buying an additional 3,903,889 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMZN opened at $234.64 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $222.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.30. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $151.61 and a fifty-two week high of $241.77. The company has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 50.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14. 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 (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.29. Amazon.com had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The business had revenue of $158.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMZN shares. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price target (up previously from $260.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.46.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,766 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.85, for a total transaction of $1,000,145.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 94,630 shares in the company, valued at $19,858,105.50. The trade was a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total value of $246,237.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,958,982.72. The trade was a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,027,340 shares of company stock worth $1,252,456,773. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

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.