Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price Up 0.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares were up 0.3% during trading on Thursday after Loop Capital raised their price target on the stock from $275.00 to $285.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $230.32 and last traded at $229.68. Approximately 7,934,200 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 34,327,371 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.93.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $225.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.85, for a total transaction of $1,000,077.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 88,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,273,459.55. This represents a 4.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $735,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 524,567 shares in the company, valued at $110,159,070. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,348 shares of company stock worth $5,036,214. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in Amazon.com by 12.5% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 401,113 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $77,515,000 after acquiring an additional 44,615 shares in the last quarter. American Planning Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 355.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Planning Services Inc. now owns 17,010 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $3,287,000 after purchasing an additional 13,275 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 27,857 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $5,383,000 after purchasing an additional 5,542 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 82.0% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 407,143 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $78,680,000 after purchasing an additional 183,413 shares during the period. Finally, City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 968.0% during the second quarter. City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. now owns 45,015 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $8,699,000 after purchasing an additional 40,800 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amazon.com Stock Up 0.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.78. 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 posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 25.49% and a net margin of 9.29%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.24 earnings per share 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.