Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,779 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after selling 2,520 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com makes up approximately 4.8% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $12,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $66,926,008,000 after buying an additional 11,370,309 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 199,915,046 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $37,116,341,000 after buying an additional 6,545,944 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 69,686,374 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $13,466,933,000 after buying an additional 1,042,177 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Amazon.com by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 57,833,954 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $10,776,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984,592 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Amazon.com by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,308,094 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $10,678,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,663 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Amazon.com stock traded down $2.43 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $234.64. 31,950,988 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,440,846. 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 company has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $222.30 and a 200-day moving average of $198.30. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.61 and a 12 month high of $241.77.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $158.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.28 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 8.04%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total value of $246,237.22. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,912 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,958,982.72. This represents a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,502 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.81, for a total value of $1,132,366.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,797,072.91. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,032,344 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,456,822 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $224.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $197.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $249.46.

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.