Amazon.com’s (AMZN) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

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

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.65.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Amazon.com stock opened at $225.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Amazon.com has a 12-month low of $151.61 and a 12-month high of $233.00.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.29. Amazon.com had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The firm had revenue of $158.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total value of $246,237.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,912 shares in the company, valued at $4,958,982.72. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 5,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.85, for a total value of $1,000,049.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 99,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,864,290.60. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock worth $1,253,456,822. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stelac Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Amazon.com by 3.4% during the second quarter. Stelac Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,924 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 235,717 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $45,552,000 after buying an additional 14,769 shares during the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 524,412 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $101,342,000 after buying an additional 11,570 shares during the period. Callahan Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amazon.com by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 206,272 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $39,862,000 after buying an additional 5,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE bought a new position in Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter valued at about $464,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.