Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup has increased its target price for Amazon.com stock from $265.00 to $270.00, signaling a potential upside of 24.99% based on current prices and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Other analysts have also raised their target prices, with Pivotal Research setting a new target of $285.00 and Monness Crespi & Hardt adjusting theirs to $275.00, indicating strong investor confidence in Amazon's performance.
• In the latest quarter, Amazon reported an earnings per share of $1.68, exceeding estimates, and a revenue of $167.70 billion, reflecting a 13.3% increase year-over-year.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its target price boosted by Citigroup from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the e-commerce giant's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Amazon.com from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Amazon.com from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $260.85.

Amazon.com Stock Down 8.3%

Shares of AMZN traded down $19.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $214.75. The company had a trading volume of 122,007,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,811,656. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $218.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $209.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.31. Amazon.com has a 52-week low of $151.61 and a 52-week high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.68 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 company had revenue of $167.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Amazon.com's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amazon.com will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 4,273,237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.81, for a total transaction of $960,666,409.97. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 897,722,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $201,816,902,603.28. This represents a 0.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,099,537 shares of company stock valued at $5,674,394,548. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 72.7% during the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 190 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.