Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $220.00 to $265.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the e-commerce giant's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.47% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $233.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $280.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Amazon.com from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $254.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $248.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $251.67.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

AMZN traded down $1.78 on Tuesday, hitting $227.52. 12,184,665 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 44,186,512. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.50 and a 200-day moving average of $208.51. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.33. Amazon.com has a 12-month low of $151.61 and a 12-month high of $242.52.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $154.96 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amazon.com will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 20,923 shares of Amazon.com 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 4,273,237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.81, for a total value of $960,666,409.97. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 897,722,088 shares in the company, valued at $201,816,902,603.28. This trade represents a 0.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,335,232 shares of company stock valued at $3,210,622,570. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Amazon.com in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the first quarter worth $36,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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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