Maxim Group Issues Positive Forecast for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Maxim Group from $251.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the e-commerce giant’s stock. Maxim Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 31.21% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on AMZN. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $236.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Amazon.com from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $225.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.11.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN stock traded up $11.76 on Friday, hitting $198.16. 78,113,704 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,222,922. The company’s fifty day moving average is $184.40 and its 200 day moving average is $183.65. Amazon.com has a 1-year low of $136.47 and a 1-year high of $201.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 47.36, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $158.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.28 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 21.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total transaction of $427,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 62,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,171,900. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 3,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.04, for a total transaction of $686,322.64. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 121,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,989,299.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $12,171,900. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,855 shares of company stock valued at $9,215,048 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 20,897.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 39,135,449 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $72,921,080,000 after purchasing an additional 38,949,065 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 785,811,114 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $141,744,609,000 after buying an additional 14,724,687 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth about $2,239,757,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Amazon.com by 64.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,359,677 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $5,295,899,000 after acquiring an additional 11,524,463 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Amazon.com by 8.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,982,857 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $15,689,968,000 after purchasing an additional 6,810,145 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amazon.com Company Profile

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.