HSBC Raises Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Price Target to $270.00

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at HSBC from $225.00 to $270.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the e-commerce giant’s stock. HSBC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 23.99% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AMZN. Benchmark raised their price target on Amazon.com from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $197.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wedbush upped their price target on Amazon.com from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.65.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $217.76 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 46.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $217.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.74. Amazon.com has a one year low of $149.91 and a one year high of $233.00.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Amazon.com’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 5,004 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.85, for a total transaction of $1,000,049.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 99,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,864,290.60. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total transaction of $246,237.22. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,958,982.72. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,032,344 shares of company stock worth $1,253,456,822 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Wesleyan Assurance Society bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,199,000. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 35,000 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Amazon.com by 3.1% during the second quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.2% in the second quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,622 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $3,405,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 31.2% during the second quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV now owns 1,619 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.