Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 675,531 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 35% compared to the average volume of 499,072 call options.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Adam Selipsky sold 500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $92,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 131,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,214,400. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.44, for a total value of $3,771,048.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,025,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $367,480,955.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam Selipsky sold 500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $92,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 131,600 shares in the company, valued at $24,214,400. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,338 shares of company stock worth $11,894,344 over the last ninety days. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the first quarter worth about $344,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its position in Amazon.com by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 11,820 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,132,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,505,000. Jackson Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 359.8% in the 1st quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,846 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $4,662,000 after purchasing an additional 20,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 67,368 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $12,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on Amazon.com from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $213.89.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN traded up $2.98 on Friday, reaching $189.08. 70,841,908 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 42,074,293. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.06. Amazon.com has a 52-week low of $118.35 and a 52-week high of $191.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 52.65, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14.

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

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.