Amazon.com Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 837,309 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 31% compared to the typical volume of 641,524 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.67, for a total value of $476,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 506,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $96,664,732.58. This represents a 0.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Keith Brian Alexander sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.68, for a total transaction of $210,680.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,465 shares in the company, valued at $1,151,366.20. The trade was a 15.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 102,037 shares of company stock worth $20,531,075. 9.70% of the stock is owned by 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 bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Amazon.com in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Stock Up 2.8%

AMZN traded up $6.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $223.30. 106,490,611 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 42,286,327. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.33. Amazon.com has a one year low of $151.61 and a one year high of $242.52. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $201.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.02.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The e-commerce giant reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $155.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $154.96 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amazon.com will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMZN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Amazon.com from $285.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $235.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Amazon.com from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $254.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Amazon.com from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $245.81.

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.

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