Benchmark Reiterates Buy Rating for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Benchmark in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $260.00 price objective on the e-commerce giant’s stock. Benchmark’s price target suggests a potential upside of 36.86% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $257.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Amazon.com from $285.00 to $255.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Amazon.com from $306.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.55.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of Amazon.com stock opened at $189.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $190.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.92. Amazon.com has a 1-year low of $151.61 and a 1-year high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $155.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.96 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amazon.com will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 8,833 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.47, for a total transaction of $1,965,077.51. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,647,456.60. This trade represents a 6.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.27, for a total transaction of $6,332,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 497,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,459,618.09. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,798 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,803 in the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Amazon.com by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150,661 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 25,581 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 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.