Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Receives "Outperform" Rating from Evercore ISI

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has restated Amazon.com’s stock rating as "outperform," setting a price target of $280.00, indicating a potential upside of 24.63% from its previous close.
• Amazon's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.68, exceeding estimates by $0.37, with revenue of $167.70 billion, up 13.3% year-over-year.
• Insider sales included Jeffrey Bezos selling 2.6 million shares valued at over $609 million, while institutional investors hold approximately 72.20% of the stock.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by investment analysts at Evercore ISI in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $280.00 price target on the e-commerce giant's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective points to a potential upside of 24.63% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AMZN. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Amazon.com from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $254.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on Amazon.com from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $262.87.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Amazon.com stock opened at $224.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.31. The business's fifty day moving average is $220.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.72. Amazon.com has a 52 week low of $161.38 and a 52 week high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $167.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.80 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 23.84% and a net margin of 10.54%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Amazon.com will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 2,643,142 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 883,779,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,649,402,587.43. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.00, for a total value of $542,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 512,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $111,114,850. The trade was a 0.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,096,253 shares of company stock valued at $5,673,745,409. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 0.9% in the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 140,122 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $26,660,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Momentous Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $749,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the first quarter valued at about $514,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 317,114 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $69,572,000 after buying an additional 39,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bearing Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $12,014,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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