Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-four analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $243.67.

AMZN has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $197.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.85, for a total value of $1,000,077.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 88,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,273,459.55. This trade represents a 4.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total transaction of $246,237.22. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,958,982.72. This represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,456,822. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. State Street Corp grew its position in Amazon.com by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $66,926,008,000 after acquiring an additional 11,370,309 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 199,915,046 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $37,116,341,000 after purchasing an additional 6,545,944 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Amazon.com by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 69,686,374 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $13,466,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,177 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 67,745,972 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $13,091,909,000 after buying an additional 289,532 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 3.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 57,833,954 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $10,776,201,000 after buying an additional 1,984,592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMZN opened at $222.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $214.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 47.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14. Amazon.com has a fifty-two week low of $146.15 and a fifty-two week high of $233.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $158.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.28 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amazon.com will post 5.29 EPS 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.