Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price Down 1.6% – Should You Sell?

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares were down 1.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $218.07 and last traded at $219.34. Approximately 13,476,782 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 34,102,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMZN shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $246.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.74.

Amazon.com Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $228.10 and its 200 day moving average is $203.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 24.25%. As a group, analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.27, for a total transaction of $6,332,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 497,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,459,618.09. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.85, for a total value of $1,000,077.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 88,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,273,459.55. The trade was a 4.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,852 shares of company stock worth $9,324,151 over the last 90 days. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rench Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 7.9% in the third 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 last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Amazon.com by 9.7% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 184,594 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $34,395,000 after acquiring an additional 16,392 shares during the period. Blankinship & Foster LLC grew its position 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 worth $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank grew its position in Amazon.com by 0.4% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 35,120 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $6,544,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, One Wealth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,270,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

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.