Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
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 AAPL, 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 43 uncommon options trades for Apple.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 41% bullish and 58%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 14 are puts, for a total amount of $661,268, and 29 are calls, for a total amount of $2,263,140.
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 $100.0 to $195.0 for Apple over the last 3 months.
Volume & Open Interest Development
In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Apple options trades today is 15112.22 with a total volume of 353,283.00.
In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Apple's big money trades within a strike price range of $100.0 to $195.0 over the last 30 days.
Apple 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | CALL | SWEEP | BEARISH | 03/18/22 | $165.00 | $224.6K | 18.0K | 750 |
| AAPL | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 04/14/22 | $180.00 | $215.2K | 14.8K | 1.9K |
| AAPL | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 06/17/22 | $170.00 | $192.7K | 21.8K | 146 |
| AAPL | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 04/14/22 | $140.00 | $130.4K | 7.6K | 72 |
| AAPL | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 01/19/24 | $120.00 | $127.6K | 14.1K | 21 |
Where Is Apple Standing Right Now?
- With a volume of 16,772,214, the price of AAPL is up 0.41% at $172.36.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 78 days.
What The Experts Say On Apple:
- Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Apple, which currently sits at a price target of $210.
- UBS has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Apple, which currently sits at a price target of $185.
- Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Apple, which currently sits at a price target of $205.
- Deutsche Bank has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Apple, which currently sits at a price target of $210.
- New Street Research upgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $165
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 are already an options trader or would like to get started, head on over to Benzinga Pro. Benzinga Pro gives you up-to-date news and analytics to empower your investing and trading strategy.
