Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $250.00 target price on the e-commerce giant’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.38% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Amazon.com from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark upped their price target on Amazon.com from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.72.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

AMZN opened at $235.01 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.68. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 50.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $151.61 and a fifty-two week high of $235.44.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.29. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 8.04%. The firm had revenue of $158.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Amazon.com’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Amazon.com news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 2,996,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.85, for a total transaction of $625,790,203.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 917,416,976 shares in the company, valued at $191,602,535,437.60. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 15,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.19, for a total value of $3,054,899.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 349,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,918,559.59. This represents a 4.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock worth $1,253,456,822. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Amazon.com by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 163 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the third quarter worth $37,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 1,625.0% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 345 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

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.