Rakuten Securities Inc. Boosts Stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,106 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com accounts for approximately 0.8% of Rakuten Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $1,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its holdings in Amazon.com by 400.0% in the fourth quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 125 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150,661 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 25,581 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 234 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities set a $285.00 price target on Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Amazon.com from $257.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.19.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of AMZN opened at $184.87 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $151.61 and a 1-year high of $242.52. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of Amazon.com 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 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. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 104,798 shares of company stock worth $23,341,803. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.