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

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $220.00 target price on the e-commerce giant’s stock.

AMZN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $273.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas upgraded Amazon.com to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.55.

Amazon.com Price Performance

AMZN stock opened at $189.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $190.48 and a 200-day moving average of $207.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39. Amazon.com has a 12 month low of $151.61 and a 12 month high of $242.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.21. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.99, for a total transaction of $469,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 509,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,776,017.26. This trade represents a 0.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.65, for a total value of $4,585,989.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,118,886 shares in the company, valued at $467,532,195.90. This trade represents a 0.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,798 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,803 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 400.0% in the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 125 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 25,581 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors 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.