Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Up 2.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s share price shot up 2.1% during trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $225.00 to $240.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $211.49 and last traded at $211.63. 16,194,486 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 41,898,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.23.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AMZN. Wall Street Zen lowered Amazon.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Amazon.com from $255.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $212.00 price objective (down previously from $215.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Amazon.com from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 20,923 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.30, for a total transaction of $4,211,799.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.99, for a total value of $469,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 509,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,776,017.26. This trade represents a 0.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 102,037 shares of company stock worth $20,531,075. 9.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 832,274,556 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $158,348,557,000 after acquiring an additional 8,913,959 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 328,464,225 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $72,061,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725,664 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 204,930,426 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $44,837,256,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,380 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake 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 valued at $40,107,544,000 after acquiring an additional 4,087,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,266,582,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.60, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.65.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. The business had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $154.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.