Needham & Company Reaffirms Buy Rating for Amazon.com

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) received a reiteration of its "buy" rating from analysts at Needham & Company LLC, according to a note shared with investors recently. The research firm has set a target price of $250.00 for the e-commerce leader's stock, suggesting a possible increase of 13.35% from its current trading price.

In addition to Needham's assessment, several other market analysts have revised their price targets for Amazon.com. On November 1st, Susquehanna raised its price target from $220.00 to $230.00, maintaining a "positive" rating. Similarly, Scotiabank adjusted its target from $245.00 to $246.00 and labeled the stock as "sector outperform." Another firm, Royal Bank of Canada, elevated its target from $215.00 to $225.00 while rating it as "outperform." Bank of America also increased its target, moving from $210.00 to $230.00, designating Amazon.com with a "buy" rating. Finally, Wedbush moved its price target from $225.00 to $250.00, supporting an "outperform" rating.

Currently, two analysts regard the stock as a hold, while forty-one offer a buy rating and one analyst expresses a strong buy opinion. MarketBeat data indicates that Amazon's stock maintains an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $236.20.

Recent Performance and Market Position

Amazon.com’s stock increased by 1.1% recently, opening at $220.55. The company shows a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.87, and a current ratio of 1.09. With a substantial market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, Amazon sports a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.23 and a PEG ratio of 1.43, along with a beta of 1.16. The stock's performance over the past year has seen a low of $143.64 and a high of $222.15. The fifty-day and two-hundred-day moving averages stand at $196.61 and $187.78, respectively.

Amazon.com recently published its quarterly earnings, reporting $1.43 per share for the last quarter, which exceeded analysts' estimates of $1.14 by $0.29. The revenue for this quarter amounted to $158.88 billion, surpassing expectations of $157.28 billion. The company achieved a return on equity of 22.41% and net margins of 8.04%. This quarter's revenue reflects an 11.0% increase year-over-year.

Insider Activity

In an update regarding insider activities, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of Amazon at an average price of $199.06, totaling roughly $246,237.22. After this transaction, Huttenlocher holds 24,912 shares, valued at about $4.96 million, representing a 4.73% decline in ownership. CEO Douglas J. Herrington also sold a portion of his shares, disposing of 5,502 shares on November 15th at an average price of $205.81, accumulating approximately $1.13 million. Post-sale, Herrington retains 518,911 shares, estimated at approximately $106.8 million, marking a 1.05% decrease in his ownership. In total, company insiders have sold over 6 million shares valued at about $1.25 billion in the last ninety days, retaining 10.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investor Moves

A number of institutional investors have altered their holdings in Amazon.com recently. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. expanded its position in Amazon by 31.6% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 43,759 shares. Quent Capital LLC also increased their stake by 3.3%, gaining 1,081 shares. Invesco LLC added 5.8% to their holdings with an acquisition of 4,026 shares. Other notable movements include Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC, which purchased a new stake worth $203,000, and Cedar Wealth Management LLC, which raised its stake by 0.4%, totaling 18,611 shares. Overall, institutional investors now own approximately 72.20% of Amazon.com shares.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is engaged in the retail of consumer products, advertising, and subscription services through both online and physical stores across North America and other international markets. The company encompasses three main segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Furthermore, Amazon produces and sells electronic devices—such as Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo devices, Ring, Blink, and eero—and is also involved in media content development and production.

Amazon, Stocks, Earnings