Amazon has announced its first stock split since the dot-com boom.
Amazon told investors on Wednesday that they’ll receive 20 shares for each share they currently own.
Amazon also said the board authorized it to buy back up to $10 billion worth of shares.
Stock splits are cosmetic and do not fundamentally change anything about the company.
Stock splits makes a company’s shares accessible to a larger number of investors because of their cheaper price.
Were the split to happen as of Wednesday’s close, the cost of each share would go from $2,785.58 to $139.28, and each existing holder would get 19 additional shares for every one they own, CNBC estimates.
Distributions from the stock split will be made to Amazon shareholders at the close of business on June 3, and trading will begin on a split-adjusted basis on June 6.
This is Amazon’s fourth stock split since its IPO in 1997, and its first since 1999, when the company was a fraction of its current size. It also split on a two-for-one basis on June 2, 1998; a three-for-one basis on Jan. 5, 1999; and a two-for-one basis on Sept. 2, 1999.
