Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 price target on the e-commerce giant’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.65% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on AMZN. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $197.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.65.

Amazon.com Trading Up 2.4 %

AMZN stock opened at $225.94 on Tuesday. Amazon.com has a 52 week low of $151.61 and a 52 week high of $233.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 48.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.47. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amazon.com will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 5,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.85, for a total value of $1,000,049.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 99,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,864,290.60. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total value of $246,237.22. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,958,982.72. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,032,344 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,456,822 in the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMZN. Rench Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 7.9% in the third quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 50,403 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $9,392,000 after acquiring an additional 3,703 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 184,594 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $34,395,000 after acquiring an additional 16,392 shares during the period. Blankinship & Foster LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 216.4% in the third quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC now owns 6,930 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 0.4% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 35,120 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $6,544,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 225,254 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $41,972,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.