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

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $240.00 to $260.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the e-commerce giant’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price indicates a potential upside of 16.13% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AMZN. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Amazon.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.35.

Amazon.com Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $223.88 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.62. Amazon.com has a 12 month low of $151.61 and a 12 month high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $154.96 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 24.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Amazon.com will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.06, for a total transaction of $550,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 514,550 shares in the company, valued at $113,231,873. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 733,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.02, for a total transaction of $166,449,928.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 894,546,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,079,993,196.12. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,335,232 shares of company stock valued at $3,210,622,570. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.