Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Down 2.3% – Should You Sell?

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s stock price traded down 2.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $220.90 and last traded at $221.83. Approximately 7,786,632 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 41,022,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $227.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMZN shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research started coverage on Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $251.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.00.

Amazon.com Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.85. The company has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $158.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.28 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $735,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 524,567 shares in the company, valued at $110,159,070. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 24,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,456,822. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $66,926,008,000 after buying an additional 11,370,309 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $37,116,341,000 after acquiring an additional 6,545,944 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 1.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 69,686,374 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $13,466,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,177 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 67,745,972 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $13,091,909,000 after purchasing an additional 289,532 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Amazon.com by 3.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% 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.