Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Trading Up 1.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) were up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $197.00 to $212.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $223.47 and last traded at $221.95. Approximately 9,493,776 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 27,071,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $217.76.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $225.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on Amazon.com from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.65.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,958,982.72. This represents a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,502 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.81, for a total transaction of $1,132,366.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,797,072.91. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,456,822 over the last 90 days. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.3% in the third quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,920 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $3,339,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its stake in Amazon.com by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 3,359 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.2% in the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,536 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,492 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Amazon.com by 4.4% during the third quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 47.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.14. 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 50 day moving average of $217.35 and a 200-day moving average of $195.93.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.29. Amazon.com had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The business had revenue of $158.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current 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.