AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Acquires 493,351 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 40.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,705,880 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 493,351 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises 4.9% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $374,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $66,926,008,000 after purchasing an additional 11,370,309 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $37,116,341,000 after purchasing an additional 6,545,944 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,042,177 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 57,833,954 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $10,776,201,000 after buying an additional 1,984,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,308,094 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $10,678,217,000 after buying an additional 1,980,663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.81, for a total value of $1,132,366.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,797,072.91. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,958,982.72. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,850 shares of company stock worth $6,168,581 over the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AMZN. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 7th. HSBC increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $225.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.74.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Amazon.com stock opened at $228.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $227.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.59. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.61 and a 52-week high of $242.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.15.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 25.49% and a net margin of 9.29%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.