Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $280.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the e-commerce giant’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $197.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.65.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $223.35 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Amazon.com has a twelve month low of $149.91 and a twelve month high of $233.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 47.83, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $217.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.74.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.29. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 8.04%. The business had revenue of $158.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Amazon.com’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.81, for a total transaction of $1,132,366.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,797,072.91. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 5,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.85, for a total transaction of $1,000,049.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 99,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,864,290.60. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,032,344 shares of company stock valued at $1,253,456,822 over the last ninety days. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in Amazon.com by 64.6% during the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 163 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position 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 valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the third quarter worth about $56,000. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.