Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Up 2.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shot up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $198.00 to $215.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $179.20 and last traded at $178.37. 14,269,038 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 42,457,242 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.67.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $185.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Amazon.com from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Amazon.com from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $228.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 3,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.97, for a total value of $523,807.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,239,226.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 3,100 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.97, for a total transaction of $523,807.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at $20,239,226.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam Selipsky sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $77,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 116,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,150,723.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,214,010 shares of company stock valued at $5,505,889,146 over the last three months. 10.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 54.3% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 267 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Amazon.com by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 277 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Strid Group LLC bought a new position in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 299,959 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,988 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amazon.com Stock Up 3.4 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $177.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 61.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.19. Amazon.com had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The firm had revenue of $169.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 4.1 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.