Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 222,586 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,542,901 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 222,586 shares during the period. Amazon.com comprises approximately 1.5% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $234,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Riversedge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 75.2% in the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 38,641 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $4,912,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV increased its stake in Amazon.com by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 46,120 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $5,863,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Chronos Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.6% during the third quarter. Chronos Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,282 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $7,027,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 57.5% in the third quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,111 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after acquiring an additional 8,807 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of AMZN opened at $188.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 52.87, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $179.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.07. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.70 and a fifty-two week high of $189.94.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $143.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.65 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 6.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.29, for a total transaction of $631,015.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 509,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,832,153.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Amazon.com news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 5,998,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.33, for a total transaction of $1,039,780,497.17. Following the sale, the insider now owns 970,255,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,174,345,949.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.29, for a total value of $631,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 509,358 shares in the company, valued at $91,832,153.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,197,961 shares of company stock valued at $4,482,244,357. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMZN shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Amazon.com from $180.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.62.

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.