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

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "sector outperform" rating on the e-commerce giant's stock. Scotiabank's price objective indicates a potential upside of 21.03% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on AMZN. Wall Street Zen lowered Amazon.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas raised Amazon.com from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Amazon.com from $233.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.02.

Amazon.com Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of AMZN traded down $2.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $227.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,591,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,902,532. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.51. Amazon.com has a 1-year low of $151.61 and a 1-year high of $242.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $155.67 billion during 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 firm's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 733,195 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.02, for a total transaction of $166,449,928.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 894,546,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,079,993,196.12. The trade was a 0.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.06, for a total value of $550,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 514,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,231,873. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,335,232 shares of company stock worth $3,210,622,570 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth about $800,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 49,407 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $10,839,000 after buying an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,036,091 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $885,478,000 after buying an additional 397,007 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $301,650,000. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,045 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $5,495,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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