Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s 2nd Largest Position

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,890,205 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after buying an additional 100,025 shares during the period. Amazon.com makes up approximately 8.3% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $414,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings 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 valued at $2,484,864,000 after purchasing an additional 183,610 shares in the last quarter. Sassicaia Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 3rd quarter worth $279,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 0.3% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 356,539 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $66,434,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Management Co. grew its position in Amazon.com by 27.6% in the third quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 33,460 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $6,235,000 after acquiring an additional 7,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Amazon.com from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $252.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total value of $4,585,989.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,118,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $467,532,195.90. The trade was a 0.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.27, for a total value of $6,332,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 497,067 shares in the company, valued at $114,459,618.09. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 104,798 shares of company stock worth $23,341,803 over the last ninety days. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMZN traded down $1.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $172.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 44,456,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,785,381. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $198.44 and a 200-day moving average of $207.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 24.25%. Research analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.