Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Scotiabank

Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a sector outperform rating and a $245.00 target price on the e-commerce giant’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AMZN. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Amazon.com from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $228.00 to $224.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $224.00.

Amazon.com Price Performance

AMZN opened at $188.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.17, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.14. Amazon.com has a 1 year low of $118.35 and a 1 year high of $201.20.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.18. Amazon.com had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 21.39%. The firm had revenue of $147.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.63 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total value of $427,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 62,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,171,900. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.25, for a total transaction of $662,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 503,753 shares in the company, valued at $95,335,255.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total value of $427,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 62,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,171,900. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,355 shares of company stock valued at $9,877,423 in the last ninety days. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in Amazon.com by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 163 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 650.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 300 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Hedge funds and other 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.