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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMZN. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho increased their price target on Amazon.com from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Amazon.com from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Amazon.com from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Amazon.com from $235.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.74.

Amazon.com Stock Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $216.58 on Friday. Amazon.com has a 1 year low of $151.61 and a 1 year high of $242.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.16, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $227.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.96.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts expect that Amazon.com will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Amazon.com

In other news, Director Jonathan Rubinstein sold 4,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 88,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 5,501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.44, for a total transaction of $1,256,648.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,434,843.92. The trade was a 1.08 % 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 valued at $9,324,151 over the last quarter. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in Amazon.com by 400.0% during 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 last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Amazon.com by 20.5% during 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 last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently 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.