Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its price objective cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $275.00 to $248.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the e-commerce giant's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price target would indicate a potential upside of 31.22% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on AMZN. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Westpark Capital started coverage on Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Finally, Phillip Securities cut shares of Amazon.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.56.

Amazon.com Stock Up 1.3 %

Amazon.com stock traded up $2.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $188.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 36,349,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,913,658. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $193.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.06. Amazon.com has a 12 month low of $151.61 and a 12 month high of $242.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 19,212 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 49,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,864,125. This represents a 27.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 509,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at $95,776,017.26. The trade was a 0.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,798 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,803 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMZN. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 125 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 72.7% in the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 190 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

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.