Morgan Stanley Cuts Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Price Target to $245.00

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its target price reduced by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $280.00 to $245.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the e-commerce giant's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential upside of 42.02% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on AMZN. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Amazon.com from $236.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Amazon.com from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $252.73.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of Amazon.com stock traded down $1.82 on Monday, reaching $172.51. 44,456,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,741,255. 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 $1.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39. 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's 50-day moving average is $199.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.97.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 24.25%. As a group, research analysts expect that Amazon.com will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 19,212 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.50, for a total transaction of $4,178,610.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,864,125. The trade was a 27.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.99, for a total value of $469,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 509,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,776,017.26. This trade represents a 0.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 104,798 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,803. 10.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 9,588 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 234 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Northern Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,353 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. White Wing Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,972 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in Amazon.com by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 8,578 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by 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.