Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 770,354 call options on the company. This is an increase of 37% compared to the typical daily volume of 563,931 call options.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Amazon.com stock traded down $6.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $216.58. 55,147,843 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,339,464. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. 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 12-month low of $151.61 and a 12-month high of $242.52. The business's 50-day moving average is $227.88 and its 200-day moving average is $204.26.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 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, sell-side analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,500 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 $110,159,070. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,852 shares of company stock valued at $9,324,151 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMZN. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in Amazon.com by 400.0% in the fourth quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 125 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Amazon.com in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc increased its position in Amazon.com by 72.7% in the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 190 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Amazon.com in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMZN. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $246.00 to $306.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $260.74.

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.