Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $210.00 price target on the e-commerce giant’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AMZN. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $217.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on Amazon.com from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $223.65.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMZN opened at $181.96 on Thursday. Amazon.com has a 12-month low of $118.35 and a 12-month high of $201.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $179.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 50.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released 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 return on equity of 21.39% and a net margin of 7.35%. The company had revenue of $147.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.63 billion. Analysts anticipate that Amazon.com will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.77, for a total value of $3,757,123.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,056,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $371,759,651.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.77, for a total transaction of $3,757,123.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,056,534 shares in the company, valued at $371,759,651.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 2,190 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 62,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,171,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,549,744 shares of company stock valued at $309,400,324 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Garrison Point Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC now owns 20,375 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $3,675,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,076 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,755 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.1% during the first quarter. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,763 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lutz Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.9% during the first quarter. Lutz Financial Services LLC now owns 3,053 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 57 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.