Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the forty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $222.49.

AMZN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $210.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.99, for a total value of $685,965.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,866,390.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.77, for a total value of $3,757,123.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,056,534 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $371,759,651.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.99, for a total value of $685,965.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,866,390.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,104,317 shares of company stock valued at $1,220,621,322. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 785,811,114 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $141,744,609,000 after acquiring an additional 14,724,687 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth about $17,700,551,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,982,857 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $15,689,968,000 after buying an additional 6,810,145 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Amazon.com by 1.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 69,686,374 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $13,466,933,000 after buying an additional 1,042,177 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 67,745,972 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $13,091,909,000 after buying an additional 289,532 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMZN traded up $4.56 during trading on Thursday, hitting $177.89. 40,100,429 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 42,520,766. Amazon.com has a 1-year low of $118.35 and a 1-year high of $201.20. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 49.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business's 50 day moving average is $181.93 and its 200-day moving average is $181.20.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $147.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.63 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 21.39% and a net margin of 7.35%. Equities analysts forecast that Amazon.com will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current 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.