Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd Invests $86.15 Million in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 392,666 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock, valued at approximately $86,147,000. Amazon.com comprises about 5.3% of Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,335,826 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $2,484,864,000 after buying an additional 183,610 shares during the last quarter. Sassicaia Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Amazon.com in the third quarter worth $279,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in Amazon.com by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 356,539 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $66,434,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Meridian Management Co. increased its position in shares of Amazon.com by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 33,460 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $6,235,000 after purchasing an additional 7,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Amazon.com by 4.3% during the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,512 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

AMZN stock traded up $8.71 on Wednesday, hitting $181.89. The company had a trading volume of 44,124,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,840,833. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39. 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 $196.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.85. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12-month low of $151.61 and a 12-month high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMZN. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $270.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $235.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $207.00 to $203.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $255.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,501 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.44, for a total transaction of $1,256,648.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,434,843.92. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 8,833 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.47, for a total transaction of $1,965,077.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,647,456.60. The trade was a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,798 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,803. 10.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.