Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $230.00 to $260.00. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $235.44 and last traded at $235.02, with a volume of 10857036 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $230.71.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $251.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Amazon.com from $221.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $197.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,502 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.81, for a total value of $1,132,366.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at $106,797,072.91. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.85, for a total transaction of $1,000,077.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 88,203 shares in the company, valued at $20,273,459.55. The trade was a 4.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,456,822. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $66,926,008,000 after acquiring an additional 11,370,309 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 199,915,046 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $37,116,341,000 after purchasing an additional 6,545,944 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 69,686,374 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $13,466,933,000 after buying an additional 1,042,177 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Amazon.com by 3.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 57,833,954 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $10,776,201,000 after buying an additional 1,984,592 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,308,094 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $10,678,217,000 after buying an additional 1,980,663 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amazon.com Stock Up 1.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 50.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. The company's fifty day moving average is $218.73 and its 200-day moving average is $196.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $158.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.28 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 5.39 EPS 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.