Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $250.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $215.90 and last traded at $212.69, with a volume of 6408508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.10.

AMZN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Susquehanna upped their price target on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Amazon.com from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Amazon.com from $245.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.45.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In related news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total transaction of $427,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 62,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,171,900. This represents a 3.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.77, for a total transaction of $3,757,123.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,056,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,759,651.18. This trade represents a 1.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,053,349 shares of company stock worth $1,256,503,289. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Amazon.com by 31.6% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 182,359 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $32,894,000 after acquiring an additional 43,759 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 9,434,397 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $1,701,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 42,910 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $7,740,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,086 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,517 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 78 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 cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

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.