Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Receives “Buy” Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $200.00 price objective on the e-commerce giant’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AMZN. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a buy rating and a $218.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $180.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $204.76.

Amazon.com Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $176.59 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Amazon.com has a 1 year low of $101.15 and a 1 year high of $189.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.89, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.16.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $169.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.96 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amazon.com will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Adam Selipsky sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $77,860.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 116,560 shares in the company, valued at $18,150,723.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Adam Selipsky sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 116,560 shares in the company, valued at $18,150,723.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 3,100 shares of the 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 approximately $20,239,226.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,214,010 shares of company stock worth $5,505,889,146. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.5% in the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 53,923 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $6,855,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.8% in the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 26,332 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $3,347,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Geometric Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geometric Wealth Advisors now owns 6,695 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. BCS Wealth Management bought a new position in Amazon.com in the third quarter worth approximately $1,335,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC raised its position in Amazon.com by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 23,131 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.