Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $280.00 to $245.00 in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the e-commerce giant’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 36.42% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on AMZN. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Amazon.com from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $270.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.56.

Amazon.com Price Performance

AMZN opened at $179.59 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $201.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.30. Amazon.com has a 1 year low of $151.61 and a 1 year high of $242.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 24.25%. Sell-side analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the firm’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 $114,459,618.09. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total value of $4,585,989.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,118,886 shares in the company, valued at $467,532,195.90. This trade represents a 0.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 104,798 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,803. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cable Hill Partners LLC raised its position in Amazon.com by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 9,588 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Amazon.com by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 234 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,353 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. White Wing Wealth Management lifted its position in Amazon.com by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,972 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 8,578 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $1,889,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. 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.