Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Trading Up 1.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shot up 1.6% on Monday after Maxim Group raised their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $280.00. Maxim Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $233.84 and last traded at $232.72. 13,630,193 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 34,928,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.15.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total value of $246,237.22. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,502 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.81, for a total value of $1,132,366.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,911 shares of the company’s stock, 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 a total of 29,850 shares of company stock valued at $6,168,581 over the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 400.0% in the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 125 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 20.5% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150,661 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 25,581 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC bought a new position in Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Quattro Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 234 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $226.93 and a 200-day moving average of $200.86. 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 market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.06, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.15.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 25.49% and a net margin of 9.29%. As a group, analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.24 EPS 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.