Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on 3M (NYSE:MMM).
And retail traders should know.
We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.
Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual, we don't know. But when something this big happens with MMM, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.
So how do we know what this whale just did?
Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 10 uncommon options trades for 3M.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 20% bullish and 80%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $346,933, and 4 are calls, for a total amount of $205,245.
What's The Price Target?
Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $110.0 to $115.0 for 3M over the last 3 months.
Volume & Open Interest Development
In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for 3M options trades today is 1756.67 with a total volume of 1,977.00.
In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for 3M's big money trades within a strike price range of $110.0 to $115.0 over the last 30 days.
3M Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days
Biggest Options Spotted:
| Symbol | PUT/CALL | Trade Type | Sentiment | Exp. Date | Strike Price | Total Trade Price | Open Interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMM | PUT | SWEEP | BEARISH | 10/21/22 | $115.00 | $110.9K | 4.1K | 336 |
| MMM | PUT | SWEEP | BEARISH | 11/18/22 | $110.00 | $79.6K | 5.1K | 642 |
| MMM | CALL | SWEEP | BEARISH | 11/18/22 | $110.00 | $72.0K | 147 | 368 |
| MMM | PUT | SWEEP | NEUTRAL | 11/18/22 | $115.00 | $60.7K | 761 | 134 |
| MMM | CALL | SWEEP | BEARISH | 11/18/22 | $110.00 | $55.8K | 147 | 272 |
Where Is 3M Standing Right Now?
- With a volume of 478,002, the price of MMM is down -1.57% at $113.36.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 19 days.
What The Experts Say On 3M:
- Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on 3M, which currently sits at a price target of $125.
- Barclays has decided to maintain their Underweight rating on 3M, which currently sits at a price target of $130.
- Deutsche Bank has decided to maintain their Hold rating on 3M, which currently sits at a price target of $127.
- UBS upgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $126
Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.
If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for 3M, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.
