Howard Financial Services LTD. Buys 4,441 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,221 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after buying an additional 4,441 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com comprises approximately 0.9% of Howard Financial Services LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $6,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 during the period. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the third quarter worth $56,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Amazon.com by 1,625.0% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 345 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $237.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.14. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $151.61 and a 52 week high of $241.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.55.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.29. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 8.04%. The business had revenue of $158.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.85, for a total value of $1,000,077.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 88,203 shares in the company, valued at $20,273,459.55. This trade represents a 4.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total transaction of $246,237.22. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,912 shares in the company, valued at $4,958,982.72. The trade was a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,027,340 shares of company stock worth $1,252,456,773. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on AMZN shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $246.00 to $306.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price objective (up previously from $260.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.33.

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.