Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $245.00 to $275.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the e-commerce giant’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.58% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on AMZN. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday. TD Cowen upped their target price on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.47.

Amazon.com Price Performance

AMZN stock traded down $8.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $229.98. The company had a trading volume of 33,558,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,954,266. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $226.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $200.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Amazon.com has a fifty-two week low of $151.61 and a fifty-two week high of $242.52. The company has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 49.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.15.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its 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 8.04% and a return on equity of 22.41%. Equities research analysts expect that Amazon.com will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 2,996,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.75, for a total transaction of $619,497,843.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 914,420,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $189,056,461,944.50. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total value of $246,237.22. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,026,212 shares of company stock worth $625,666,424 in the last three months. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150,661 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 25,581 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Quattro Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 23.8% in the fourth 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. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.