Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $205.00 target price on the e-commerce giant’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 17.39% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Amazon.com from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $185.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $175.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Amazon.com from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group began coverage on Amazon.com in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $218.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $202.80.

Amazon.com Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $174.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 60.22, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Amazon.com has a 12 month low of $101.15 and a 12 month high of $189.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.83.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $169.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.96 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 5.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 3,100 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.97, for a total transaction of $523,807.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at $20,239,226.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 3,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.97, for a total transaction of $523,807.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at $20,239,226.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 12,133 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.00, for a total transaction of $2,074,743.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 115,220 shares in the company, valued at $19,702,620. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,213,510 shares of company stock worth $5,505,798,456 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in Amazon.com by 0.6% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 704,441 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $126,747,000 after purchasing an additional 4,195 shares during the period. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Amazon.com by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,207 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $6,351,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 145.9% in the 1st quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 16,994 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after buying an additional 10,082 shares during the period. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 7.7% in the first quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 53,452 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $9,642,000 after buying an additional 3,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 68.0% during the first quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60,901 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $10,985,000 after buying an additional 24,644 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.