Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Amazon.com Call Options (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 770,354 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 37% compared to the average daily volume of 563,931 call options.

Amazon.com Stock Down 2.8 %

AMZN stock opened at $216.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Amazon.com has a 52-week low of $151.61 and a 52-week high of $242.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $227.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $260.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded Amazon.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.74.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $735,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 524,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,159,070. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.85, for a total transaction of $1,000,077.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 88,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,273,459.55. The trade was a 4.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,852 shares of company stock worth $9,324,151. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 400.0% in the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 125 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150,661 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 25,581 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors 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.