Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain broadly bullish on Amazon. Of 59 brokerages, 56 rate the stock a buy and three recommend holding it, with an average 12-month price target of approximately $322.56.
• Amazon exceeded quarterly expectations. The company reported $5.75 in earnings per share versus the $1.82 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 19.6% year over year to $200.61 billion.
• Institutional ownership is substantial, but insiders have been selling. Institutions own 72.2% of Amazon’s shares, while insiders sold 77,867 shares valued at roughly $20.5 million during the latest quarter, including sales by CEO Andy Jassy and SVP David Zapolsky.

Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifty-nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifty-six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $322.5614.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Amazon.com from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group set a $318.00 price target on Amazon.com and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.53, for a total transaction of $2,489,273.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,060,750.70. This trade represents a 18.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.42, for a total transaction of $5,268,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,205,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $581,042,879.72. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 77,867 shares of company stock valued at $20,532,092 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMZN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 832,274,556 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $158,348,557,000 after buying an additional 8,913,959 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 388,653,121 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $89,708,913,000 after acquiring an additional 6,971,680 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 225,120,994 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $51,753,622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479,324 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,868,735,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 27,376.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 98,448,885 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $2,272,397,000 after acquiring an additional 98,090,585 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of AMZN opened at $272.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.45. The company's 50-day moving average is $246.31 and its 200-day moving average is $236.97. Amazon.com has a fifty-two week low of $196.00 and a fifty-two week high of $287.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $3.93. Amazon.com had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. Amazon.com's quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Amazon.com will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

More Amazon.com News

Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AWS and AI remain the primary bullish catalysts. Coverage highlights accelerating AWS growth, strong demand for AI infrastructure, and management’s view that much of AWS capacity is committed through 2028. Investors are increasingly seeing Amazon’s AI spending translate into cloud revenue and profits. Amazon’s AI Story Is Bigger Than You Think
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains favorable. Amazon was included in Zacks’ Strong Buy and momentum lists, while reports cited analyst upgrades and price targets above the current trading range. The bullish case is supported by second-quarter revenue of $200.6 billion, 19.6% year-over-year growth, and a significant earnings beat. Wall Street’s Bullish Views on Amazon
• Positive Sentiment: Zoox is moving toward commercialization. Amazon’s self-driving unit received approval for driverless vehicles and plans to begin paid robotaxi rides in Las Vegas on August 10. The launch provides a potential long-term growth option beyond retail, cloud, and advertising. Amazon’s Zoox to Start Paid Robotaxi Rides
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon’s Anthropic investment boosted reported results. Second-quarter net income included approximately $53.4 billion in largely non-operating gains tied to Anthropic investments. The gain validates the strategic value of Amazon’s AI holdings, but it is not recurring operating profit and may make underlying earnings comparisons less clear. Amazon’s Anthropic-Related Gain
• Negative Sentiment: Jeff Bezos’ planned sale is weighing on sentiment. The founder disclosed plans to sell 15 million shares worth roughly $4.1 billion under a pre-arranged trading plan. Amazon executive Douglas Herrington also sold 1,000 shares, adding to supply concerns after the stock reached record levels. Jeff Bezos Amazon Share Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and spending risks remain. An appeals court allowed Perplexity’s AI shopping agents to access Amazon’s platform, while New Jersey sued Amazon over alleged anticompetitive treatment of delivery contractors. Separately, the company’s large AI data-center commitments and capital-spending plans raise concerns about returns and free cash flow.

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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