Benzinga | Oct 7, 2021 02:51PM EDT

This Is What Smart Money Is Betting On Exxon Mobil

Someone with a lot of money to spend (and possibly insider knowledge) has taken an unusually bearish stance on Exxon Mobil(NYSE:XOM).

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 XOM, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what the Smart Money just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 5 uncommon options trades for Exxon Mobil.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 40.0% bullish and 60.0%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, there was 1 put, for a total amount of $143,000, and there was 1 call, for a total amount of $3,240,755.

What's The Price Target?

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that the smart money is targeting a price range from $55.0 to $62.5 for Exxon Mobil in the over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Exxon Mobil'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 Exxon Mobil's smart money trades within a strike price range from $55.0 to $62.5 in the last 30 days.

Exxon Mobil Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

Symbol PUT/ Trade Sentiment Exp. Strike Total Trade Open Volume CALL Type Date Price Price InterestXOM CALL TRADE BULLISH 01/20/ $62.50 $2.1M 1.7K 4.0K 23XOM CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/20/ $62.50 $823.7K 1.7K 5.5K 23XOM CALL SWEEP BEARISH 04/14/ $55.00 $152.8K 1.3K 405 22XOM CALL SWEEP BEARISH 04/14/ $55.00 $152.1K 1.3K 205 22XOM PUT TRADE BEARISH 11/19/ $57.50 $143.0K 3.6K 2.9K 21

Where Is Exxon Mobil Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 13,306,080, the price of XOM is up 0.4% over the last 24 hours at $60.73.

* RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought.

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 22 days.

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.