Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 85,130,000 shares, an increase of 14.7% from the May 31st total of 74,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 40,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMZN. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Amazon.com from $234.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Amazon.com from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $228.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus raised their target price on Amazon.com from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $215.86.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, SVP David Zapolsky sold 4,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total value of $918,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 59,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.29, for a total value of $620,515.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 523,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,767,524.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 4,710 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.00, for a total value of $918,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 59,500 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,548 shares of company stock worth $12,180,239 in the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMZN. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Amazon.com by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 277 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Strid Group LLC bought a new position in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 299,959 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of AMZN stock traded up $2.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $200.00. The company had a trading volume of 44,904,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,938,051. Amazon.com has a 12 month low of $118.35 and a 12 month high of $200.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.02, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $184.27 and its 200 day moving average is $173.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $143.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.65 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 6.38%. Amazon.com’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amazon.com Company Profile

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.