Optas LLC Grows Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Optas LLC increased its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,645 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,280 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com comprises approximately 1.9% of Optas LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Optas LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $8,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMZN. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,243,000. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amazon.com in the second quarter worth $1,130,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter worth $5,624,000. RiverFront Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 11.2% during the second quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 158,157 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $30,564,000 after purchasing an additional 15,900 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at $1,750,000. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMZN shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $236.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.65.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total transaction of $4,585,989.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,118,886 shares in the company, valued at $467,532,195.90. This represents a 0.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.27, for a total transaction of $6,332,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 497,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,459,618.09. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,149 shares of company stock worth $24,606,905. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMZN opened at $214.35 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $226.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.27. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1 year low of $151.61 and a 1 year high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 24.25%. On average, research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current 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.