Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Trading 1.3% Higher – Here’s Why

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s stock price rose 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $199.32 and last traded at $198.15. Approximately 10,366,793 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 38,174,655 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.65.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.97. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.19.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 24.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.27, for a total value of $6,332,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 497,067 shares in the company, valued at $114,459,618.09. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 19,212 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.50, for a total value of $4,178,610.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,864,125. The trade was a 27.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,298 shares of company stock valued at $22,871,828 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 400.0% during 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. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 72.7% during the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 190 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.