Benzinga | Oct 25, 2021 02:58PM EDT

This Is What Whales Are Betting On Costco Wholesale

Someone with a lot of money to spend (and possibly insider knowledge) has taken a bearish stance on Costco Wholesale(NASDAQ:COST).

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 COST, 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 Costco Wholesale.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 30.0% bullish and 70.0%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $65,660, and 8 are calls, for a total amount of $360,447.

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 $465.0 to $505.0 for Costco Wholesale over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Costco Wholesale options trades today is 536.33 with a total volume of 782.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Costco Wholesale's big money trades within a strike price range of $465.0 to $505.0 over the last 30 days.

Costco Wholesale 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 InterestCOST CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 01/21/ $470.00 $110.6K 978 46 22COST CALL SWEEP BULLISH 10/29/ $470.00 $51.1K 448 182 21COST CALL SWEEP BULLISH 12/17/ $505.00 $42.0K 358 68 21COST PUT TRADE BEARISH 10/29/ $480.00 $40.0K 577 225 21COST CALL TRADE BEARISH 11/05/ $480.00 $34.5K 400 50 21

Where Is Costco Wholesale Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 748,186, the price of COST is up 2.02% at $491.74.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 45 days.

What The Experts Say On Costco Wholesale:

* Credit Suisse has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $490.0.

* Citigroup has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $495.0.

* Cowen & Co. has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $520.0.

* Deutsche Bank has decided to maintain their Hold rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $468.0.

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.