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

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares shot up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $265.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $242.33 and last traded at $241.99. 9,264,263 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 31,679,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $237.42.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on AMZN. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. HSBC lifted their target price on Amazon.com from $225.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James upped their price target on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,958,982.72. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 88,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,273,459.55. This represents a 4.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,022,574 shares of company stock worth $1,251,456,628 over the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its stake in Amazon.com by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 9,588 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Amazon.com by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 234 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. White Wing Wealth Management lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,972 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 8,578 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,920 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.57, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $225.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

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.