Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Trading Up 2.2% – Here’s What Happened

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose 2.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $265.58 and last traded at $265.01. Approximately 34,489,610 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 48,908,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.34.

Key Stories Impacting Amazon.com

Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $310, saying Amazon’s AI-powered shopping tools could help defend and expand its retail franchise. BofA Pounds the Table on Amazon (AMZN) Stock, Sets $310 Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary highlighted Amazon’s breakout above key technical levels and said the stock remains in a bullish setup, which can attract momentum buyers. Amazon (AMZN) Recently Broke Out Above the 20-Day Moving Average
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage from multiple outlets pointed to Amazon’s AI initiatives, including Alexa for Shopping, as a potential long-term growth driver for retail and advertising. Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping seen driving long-term retail growth
• Positive Sentiment: Jeff Bezos and other supporters defended heavy AI spending, and Bill Ackman reportedly added to Amazon, reinforcing the idea that major investors still see upside in the stock. Billionaire Bill Ackman Piled Into Amazon and Microsoft and Slashed His Fund’s Mammoth Stake in This AI Kingpin by 95%
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon shareholders re-elected the board and approved the existing pay and governance framework, signaling continuity rather than a major corporate change. Amazon Shareholders Back Board, Pay and Governance Status Quo
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon also faced fresh criticism from U.K. lawmakers over delivery practices, which could add regulatory pressure to the company’s logistics and marketplace operations. Amazon (AMZN) Hit with New Accusation From U.K. Lawmakers

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. President Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $320.00 to $296.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.66.

Amazon.com Stock Down 0.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $238.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.46.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $1.15. Amazon.com had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The firm had revenue of $181.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 17,751 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.22, for a total transaction of $3,642,860.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,930,094.10. This represents a 65.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $7,562,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,624,275. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 201,026 shares of company stock worth $49,128,874. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Capital Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 8,081 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $1,774,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter valued at $451,642,000. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 39,264 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $9,063,000 after purchasing an additional 4,713 shares during the last quarter. Narwhal Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 216,606 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $49,997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 36,485 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $8,421,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.