Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Up 1.7% – Time to Buy?

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares were up 1.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $198.57 and last traded at $197.20. Approximately 12,037,390 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 38,236,316 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMZN shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Redburn Atlantic lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $246.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.65.

Amazon.com Stock Up 2.2 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $222.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.19.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 24.25%. As a group, analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 8,833 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.47, for a total value of $1,965,077.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,647,456.60. The trade was a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 19,212 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.50, for a total value of $4,178,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,864,125. This trade represents a 27.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,298 shares of company stock worth $22,871,828 over the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Amazon.com by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 823,360,597 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $180,637,081,000 after buying an additional 17,635,391 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Amazon.com by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $66,926,008,000 after buying an additional 11,370,309 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Amazon.com by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 328,464,225 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $72,061,766,000 after buying an additional 1,725,664 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Amazon.com by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 204,930,426 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $44,837,256,000 after buying an additional 5,015,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Amazon.com by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 182,813,905 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $40,107,544,000 after buying an additional 4,087,933 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently 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.