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

Key Points

• Amazon.com received a "buy" rating from Needham & Company LLC, with a target price of $265.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.19% from its current price.
• Insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold over 4 million shares valued at approximately $960.67 million, decreasing his ownership stake in the company.
• Analyst sentiment is strong, with forty-five analysts

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $265.00 price objective on the e-commerce giant's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective indicates a potential upside of 23.40% from the stock's current price.

AMZN has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $245.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Amazon.com from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $262.45.

Amazon.com Trading Down 8.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $214.75 on Friday. Amazon.com has a 52-week low of $151.61 and a 52-week high of $242.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $218.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $209.11.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.37. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 10.54%. The firm had revenue of $167.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Amazon.com news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 2,643,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.43, for a total transaction of $609,059,211.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 883,779,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,649,402,587.43. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 25,099,537 shares of company stock valued at $5,674,394,548 over the last quarter. Insiders own 9.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the second quarter worth $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 72.7% in the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 190 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

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.