Benchmark Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its price objective hoisted by Benchmark from $200.00 to $215.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the e-commerce giant’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Amazon.com from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $225.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Amazon.com from $221.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $224.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.48.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMZN opened at $195.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $185.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.89. Amazon.com has a one year low of $138.36 and a one year high of $201.20. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.14.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.29. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 8.04%. The firm had revenue of $158.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amazon.com will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the company’s 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 owns 62,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,171,900. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Amazon.com news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total value of $427,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 62,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,171,900. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,056,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,759,651.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,855 shares of company stock worth $9,215,048 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 9.2% in the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Amazon.com by 0.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,847,177 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $550,217,000 after purchasing an additional 14,766 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 19.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 119,205 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $22,211,000 after buying an additional 19,231 shares during the last quarter. Stonekeep Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,588,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 164.1% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,053,958 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $203,677,000 after purchasing an additional 654,908 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

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.