Amazon jumps as the online retail giant completes its first stock split since 1999

• Shares of Amazon jumped 5% Monday after the company's 20-for-1 stock split.
• The move marked the online retail giant's first stock split since 1999.

Shares of Amazon jumped 5% Monday as the company's 20-for-1 stock split went into effect.

"This split would give our employees more flexibility in how they manage their equity in Amazon and make the share price more accessible for people looking to invest in the company," the company said in a statement shared with FOX Business.

Shares of Amazon traded at about $126.71 at 11:15 AM ET Monday.

Amazon has not been spared the carnage in the tech sector this year amid a broad sell-off in equities. Even after Monday's jump, shares of the ecommerce behemoth are down about 8% since it announced the plan to split its stock back in March.

With the split, the company will seek a $10 billion share buyback plan, replacing its $5 billion plan from 2016. Amazon is currently the world's fifth-most valuable company by market capitalization.

Stock splits do not change a company's fundamentals, or materially impact a business's prospects, but they have been shown to spark enthusiasm from retail traders who might have felt locked out of a stock when the share price was higher.

Alphabet proposed a stock split in February. In March, Tesla announced it would seek shareholder approval for its own stock split so that it could pay a dividend using stock. The EV-maker surged 7% on March 28 on the news.