Hancock Whitney Corp Grows Stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 457,440 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,570 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com accounts for approximately 3.2% of Hancock Whitney Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $100,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMZN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,266,582,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in Amazon.com by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 65,709,496 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $14,416,078,000 after buying an additional 17,681,004 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Amazon.com by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 823,360,597 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $180,637,081,000 after buying an additional 17,635,391 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Amazon.com by 17,054.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,088,589 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $2,652,116,000 after buying an additional 12,018,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in Amazon.com by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 57,268,523 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $12,564,961,000 after buying an additional 12,000,745 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMZN has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Amazon.com from $257.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $212.00 target price (down previously from $215.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.09.

Amazon.com Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ AMZN opened at $205.59 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $189.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Amazon.com, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $151.61 and a fifty-two week high of $242.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.18, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.30.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $155.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $154.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Amazon.com’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,501 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.44, for a total value 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. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith Brian Alexander sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.68, for a total value of $210,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,151,366.20. The trade was a 15.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,798 shares of company stock worth $17,696,733. Insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

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.