Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Up 3% – Still a Buy?

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s stock price was up 3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $256.48 and last traded at $254.96. 43,823,374 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 49,907,973 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.49.

Trending Headlines about Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reportedly named Amazon a preferred AI hyperscaler over Meta, citing its strategic position in AI and cloud computing. Amazon or Meta: Wedbush Chooses the Superior AI Hyperscaler Stock to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: KeyBanc and other firms turned bullish on Amazon’s AI spending, arguing that large capex is supporting future AWS growth rather than signaling excess. Amazon’s AI Arms Race: KeyBanc Says Massive Capex Is a Feature, Not a Bug
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Amazon Web Services’ improving sales trend and raised price targets, reinforcing the view that cloud growth is reaccelerating. Analyst sets AMZN stock price target after higher AWS sales
• Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s in-house chip business was described by CEO Andy Jassy as a major growth engine, with more than $225 billion in customer commitments for Trainium chips. Andy Jassy Says Amazon’s Chip Business Already Has $225 Billion in Commitments
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports pointed to Amazon’s valuation as attractive relative to its AI, cloud, and logistics growth opportunities, and multiple analysts reiterated buy ratings. KeyBanc Raises Amazon Stock’s Price Target Ahead of Earnings

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AMZN shares. Piper Sandler set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price target (down from $350.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. KeyCorp set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Fifty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.76.

Amazon.com Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.85.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $1.15. The firm had revenue of $181.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.28 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.53, for a total value of $2,489,273.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,060,750.70. This represents a 18.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,363 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.38, for a total value of $620,003.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 119,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,427,876.40. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 144,274 shares of company stock valued at $38,716,204. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,036,091 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $885,478,000 after acquiring an additional 397,007 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,045 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $5,495,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,016,869 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $442,481,000 after acquiring an additional 54,987 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in shares of Amazon.com by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 28,975 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $6,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

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.