Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,773 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,143 shares during the period. Amazon.com accounts for approximately 1.3% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $16,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Amazon.com by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,641,401 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $492,172,000 after purchasing an additional 811,425 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,335,826 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,484,864,000 after purchasing an additional 183,610 shares during the last quarter. Sassicaia Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter valued at $279,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Amazon.com by 0.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 356,539 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $66,434,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Management Co. raised its stake in Amazon.com by 27.6% during the third quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 33,460 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $6,235,000 after buying an additional 7,246 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.27, for a total value of $6,332,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 497,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,459,618.09. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 8,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.47, for a total transaction of $1,965,077.51. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,647,456.60. This represents a 6.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,798 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,803 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Stock Down 4.2 %

AMZN opened at $171.00 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $151.61 and a twelve month high of $242.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $212.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $209.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.92, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AMZN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Amazon.com from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Benchmark raised their target price on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities set a $285.00 price target on Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Amazon.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.53.

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.