DA Davidson Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at DA Davidson from $235.00 to $280.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the e-commerce giant’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.19% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AMZN. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $251.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.50.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of AMZN stock traded down $9.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $229.15. 77,928,951 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,385,168. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $226.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.30. Amazon.com has a fifty-two week low of $151.61 and a fifty-two week high of $242.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 49.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.15. 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 (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 22.41% and a net margin of 8.04%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amazon.com will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.06, for a total value of $246,237.22. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,958,982.72. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,502 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.81, for a total value of $1,132,366.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,797,072.91. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,026,212 shares of company stock valued at $625,666,424. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rench Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 50,403 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $9,392,000 after purchasing an additional 3,703 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Amazon.com by 9.7% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 184,594 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $34,395,000 after buying an additional 16,392 shares during the last quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC raised its stake in Amazon.com by 216.4% in the third quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC now owns 6,930 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after buying an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 0.4% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 35,120 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $6,544,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, One Wealth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,270,000. 72.20% of the stock is owned by 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.