Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $220.00 price target on the e-commerce giant's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.80% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $248.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Amazon.com from $270.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $285.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.55.

Amazon.com Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMZN traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $189.98. 77,794,995 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,694,379. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39. 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 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 net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The firm had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Amazon.com news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 5,848 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.72, for a total value of $1,290,770.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 69,162 shares in the company, valued at $15,265,436.64. This trade represents a 7.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.27, for a total transaction of $6,332,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 497,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $114,459,618.09. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,798 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,803. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carson Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Amazon.com by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 4,777 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 3.6% in the first quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 10,401 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $1,979,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Burling Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC now owns 109,257 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $20,787,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its position in Amazon.com by 61.1% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 33,071 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $6,292,000 after purchasing an additional 12,545 shares during the period. Finally, Acas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Acas LLC now owns 24,712 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $4,700,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.