Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Up 1.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s share price shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $205.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $187.87 and last traded at $186.73. 16,756,821 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 43,973,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.72.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AMZN. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $185.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $180.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $205.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.29, for a total transaction of $631,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 509,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,832,153.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.29, for a total transaction of $631,015.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 509,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,832,153.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 3,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.97, for a total value of $523,807.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,239,226.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,217,010 shares of company stock valued at $5,506,442,301 in the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in Amazon.com by 54.3% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 267 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in Amazon.com by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 277 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Strid Group LLC bought a new position in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Amazon.com by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 299,959 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50 day moving average is $179.02 and its 200 day moving average is $160.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.15. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 6.38%. The firm had revenue of $143.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.