Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Increases Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 193.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,360,335 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,536,276 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com accounts for approximately 3.9% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned about 0.05% of Amazon.com worth $1,176,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Topsail Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,726,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,735,000. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 457,440 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $100,358,000 after buying an additional 24,570 shares during the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 30,697 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $6,735,000 after buying an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empire Financial Management Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 31,957 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,156 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMZN. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas raised Amazon.com to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America cut their target price on Amazon.com from $257.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Amazon.com from $265.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.09.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

AMZN stock opened at $205.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.30. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12-month low of $151.61 and a 12-month high of $242.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.61.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $154.96 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 8,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.47, for a total transaction of $1,965,077.51. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,647,456.60. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.44, for a total transaction of $1,256,648.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,434,843.92. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 80,798 shares of company stock valued at $17,696,733. 9.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.