Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $250.00 price target on the e-commerce giant's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on AMZN. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $224.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research started coverage on Amazon.com in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Amazon.com from $245.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $247.72.

Amazon.com Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AMZN traded up $4.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $235.01. 41,375,972 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,919,486. The company has a fifty day moving average of $218.73 and a 200 day moving average of $196.68. Amazon.com has a twelve month low of $151.61 and a twelve month high of $235.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 50.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. 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 announced its earnings results 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. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 8.04%. The company had revenue of $158.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Amazon.com will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $1,000,077.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 88,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,273,459.55. The trade was a 4.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total value of $246,237.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,912 shares in the company, valued at $4,958,982.72. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,032,344 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,456,822 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMZN. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Amazon.com by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150,661 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 25,581 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 64.6% in the 2nd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 163 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

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.