Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Arete Research raised their price target on the stock from $285.00 to $301.00. Arete Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amazon.com traded as high as $258.79 and last traded at $257.9720, with a volume of 14134110 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $255.36.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (down from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 target price (down from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Amazon.com from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,695 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.90, for a total value of $554,900.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 119,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,662,702. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 17,751 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.22, for a total value of $3,642,860.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,405 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,094.10. This represents a 65.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 124,186 shares of company stock worth $27,826,739. Insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Amazon.com

Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Big Anthropic win — Amazon expanded its Anthropic partnership (additional investment commitments and a decade?long cloud spending pledge from Anthropic), which materially increases long?term AWS demand, supports Trainium chip adoption and gives revenue visibility for AWS. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street backing — Multiple firms raised price targets or reiterated buy/outperform calls (Sanford Bernstein to $300, Arete to $301, BMO to $315; UBS reaffirmed buy), which gives near?term momentum into earnings by signaling stronger AWS/AI monetization expectations. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Healthcare expansion — Amazon launched a nationwide GLP?1 weight?loss program via One Medical + Amazon Pharmacy, creating a new recurring?revenue path (prescription, care, delivery) and putting competitive pressure on drug pricing/market share for incumbents. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Executive actions — CEO Andy Jassy sold 31,000 shares under a pre?arranged 10b5?1 plan; routine filing but worth noting for transparency. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational updates — Small logistics / sustainability moves (electric truck deployments, promotions inside AWS) support long?term efficiency but have limited near?term revenue impact. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk — California’s attorney general released filings alleging Amazon pressured vendors to raise prices on rival platforms; renewed antitrust scrutiny could produce fines, remedies or business constraints. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability and valuation concerns — Critics warn the Anthropic/AI spending cycle increases capex and operating intensity and may pressure near?term margins; some outlets argue the valuation bump from the AI news is overdone. Read More.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 113.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 113 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Amazon.com during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. MilWealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 79.0% during the 4th quarter. MilWealth Group LLC now owns 179 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 200 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amazon.com Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $216.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.75.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by ($0.02). Amazon.com had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 10.83%.The firm had revenue of $213.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.86 earnings per share. Amazon.com’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.