Amazon, the leading online retailer and cloud service, says its Board of Directors has approved a 20-for-1 split of the Company’s common stock.
Shares in Amazon stock closed Wednesday at $2,785.58 per share, up $65.29. The stock was trading 6% higher after hours when news of the split was released in a filing with the SEC.
Alphabet, parent company of Google, also announced a 20-for-1 stock split last month that will take place this July.
The Amazon stock split and the proportionate authorized share increase are subject to shareholder approval at the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which is currently scheduled to take place on May 25, 2022.
Subject to shareholder approval of the Amendment, each Company shareholder of record at the close of business on May 27, 2022 will have 19 additional shares for every one share held as of such date reflected in their accounts on or about June 3, 2022. Trading is expected to begin on a split-adjusted basis on June 6, 2022.
The Amazon Board also authorized the Company to repurchase up to $10 billion of the Company’s common stock. The program allows the Company to repurchase its shares opportunistically from time to time when it believes that doing so would enhance long-term shareholder value. The repurchase authorization does not have a fixed expiration. Purchases may be effected through one or more open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions, transactions structured through investment banking institutions, or a combination of the foregoing. This stock repurchase authorization replaces the previous $5 billion stock repurchase authorization, approved by the Board of Directors in 2016, under which the Company had repurchased $2.12 billion of its shares.
