Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price Up 2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Amazon's stock price increased by 2%, closing at $229.02 after reaching a high of $230.49 on Thursday, with trading volume down 53% from the average.
• Several analysts have set new price targets for Amazon.com, with Barclays increasing their target to $275.00 and others providing targets ranging from $235.00 to $272.00.
• Amazon's latest quarterly earnings report showed $167.70 billion in revenue and an EPS of $1.68, both exceeding analysts' expectations.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s share price rose 2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $230.49 and last traded at $229.02. Approximately 20,903,050 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 44,702,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $224.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMZN. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $235.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $262.87.

Amazon.com Trading Up 2.7%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $220.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $2.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 849,721,601 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $186,420,422,000 after buying an additional 17,447,045 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Amazon.com by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 374,097,285 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $82,073,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,163,208 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Amazon.com by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 328,464,225 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $72,061,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725,664 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Amazon.com by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 216,717,657 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $47,332,625,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Amazon.com by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 182,813,905 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $40,107,544,000 after purchasing an additional 4,087,933 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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