Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG).
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 BKNG, 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 14 uncommon options trades for Booking Holdings.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 21% bullish and 78%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 10 are puts, for a total amount of $981,588, and 4 are calls, for a total amount of $251,546.
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 $1700.0 to $2235.0 for Booking Holdings over the last 3 months.
Volume & Open Interest Development
Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock.
This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Booking Holdings's options for a given strike price.
Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Booking Holdings's whale activity within a strike price range from $1700.0 to $2235.0 in the last 30 days.
Booking Holdings 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BKNG | PUT | TRADE | BULLISH | 01/20/23 | $1800.00 | $229.0K | 160 | 20 |
| BKNG | PUT | TRADE | BULLISH | 01/20/23 | $1800.00 | $219.0K | 160 | 0 |
| BKNG | PUT | TRADE | BULLISH | 09/16/22 | $1840.00 | $170.0K | 8 | 10 |
| BKNG | PUT | SWEEP | BEARISH | 01/20/23 | $1800.00 | $136.2K | 160 | 26 |
| BKNG | CALL | TRADE | BEARISH | 08/19/22 | $1800.00 | $126.2K | 47 | 10 |
Where Is Booking Holdings Standing Right Now?
- With a volume of 44,425, the price of BKNG is down -2.51% at $1792.24.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversold.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 35 days.
What The Experts Say On Booking Holdings:
- Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Booking Holdings, which currently sits at a price target of $2100.
- Truist Securities has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Booking Holdings, which currently sits at a price target of $3000.
- Goldman Sachs has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Booking Holdings, which currently sits at a price target of $2360.
- JMP Securities has decided to maintain their Market Outperform rating on Booking Holdings, which currently sits at a price target of $2300.
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 Booking Holdings, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.
