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

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 940,765 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 28% compared to the typical volume of 736,806 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.90, for a total transaction of $554,900.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 119,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,662,702. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.50, for a total transaction of $210,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 520,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,535,990.50. This represents a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,686 shares of company stock valued at $14,899,239. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,469,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at $103,016,000. Cornerstone Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth $6,871,000. AMG Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth $947,000. Finally, Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter valued at about $419,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Price Performance

Shares of Amazon.com stock traded up $9.28 on Tuesday, reaching $249.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 58,896,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,269,613. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.77, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $211.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.33. Amazon.com has a 52-week low of $165.29 and a 52-week high of $258.60.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $213.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.02 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.86 EPS. Analysts expect that Amazon.com will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMZN. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective (down from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 6th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Amazon.com from $340.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $260.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 target price (down from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.29.

Key Amazon.com News

Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon agreed to acquire satellite operator Globalstar for roughly $11.6B, giving Amazon spectrum, existing satellites and direct?to?device capability that accelerates Project Kuiper and positions AMZN to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink. This is the primary catalyst behind the intraday rally. Reuters: Amazon signs $11.57 billion deal
• Positive Sentiment: The Globalstar deal includes relationships that power iPhone/Apple Watch satellite features—strengthening a commercial tie to Apple that widens addressable market for Amazon’s LEO services. That Apple angle increases revenue optionality for AMZN. Barron’s: Apple and Amazon Partner on Satellite Deal
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported shift toward AWS (and ongoing AWS AI revenue strength) reinforces investor confidence in Amazon’s cloud as a long?term AI infrastructure winner—supporting higher multiples for AMZN. CNBC: OpenAI touts Amazon alliance
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual and heavy call?option activity (large block buys and elevated open interest ahead of earnings) signals speculative bullish positioning and helped fuel the move higher as traders position for upside into late?April results. Barchart: Heavy, Unusual Volume in Amazon Options
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman Sachs has reaffirmed its buy rating on AMZN, providing institutional endorsement that may support flows but not immediately change fundamentals. MarketScreener: Goldman reaffirms buy
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn the Globalstar takeover doesn’t solve industry constraints—most notably a shortage of rocket launches to deploy LEO constellations quickly—meaning the acquisition speeds capability but not necessarily deployment timing or margin relief. That adds execution risk to the satellite thesis. Reuters: Deal won’t fix launch bottleneck
• Negative Sentiment: A worker death at an Amazon fulfillment center has resurfaced safety concerns and could draw regulatory or reputational scrutiny—an operational risk that investors monitor but that typically impacts sentiment more than core long?term earnings. TipRanks: Worker dies at Oregon facility

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.