Stock Traders Purchase High 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. Investors purchased 770,354 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 37% compared to the average volume of 563,931 call options.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMZN traded down $6.30 on Friday, reaching $216.58. The stock had a trading volume of 54,853,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,381,992. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.15. Amazon.com has a 12-month low of $151.61 and a 12-month high of $242.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $228.10 and its 200 day moving average price 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 data on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts expect that Amazon.com will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AMZN. UBS Group lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $735,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 524,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,159,070. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 a total of 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 Trading of Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMZN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Amazon.com by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 823,360,597 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $180,637,081,000 after buying an additional 17,635,391 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $66,926,008,000 after purchasing an additional 11,370,309 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 328,464,225 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $72,061,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725,664 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 204,930,426 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $44,837,256,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,380 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 182,813,905 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $40,107,544,000 after purchasing an additional 4,087,933 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.