Benzinga | Oct 29, 2021 11:52AM EDT

This Is What Whales Are Betting On Starbucks

A whale with a lot of money to spend (and possibly insider knowledge) has taken a noticeably bearish stance on Starbucks.

Looking at options history for Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) we detected 19 strange trades.

If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 31.58% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 68.42% with bearish.

From the overall spotted trades, 10 are puts, for a total amount of $554,766 and 9, calls, for a total amount of $586,438.

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 $85.0 to $160.0 for Starbucks 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 Starbucks'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 Starbucks's whale activity within a strike price range from $85.0 to $160.0 in the last 30 days.

Starbucks 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 InterestSBUX PUT TRADE BULLISH 06/17/ $85.00 $187.5K 1.5K 753 22SBUX CALL TRADE BEARISH 11/12/ $90.00 $151.5K 5 100 21SBUX CALL TRADE BULLISH 01/19/ $100.00 $144.0K 65 127 24SBUX CALL TRADE BEARISH 11/19/ $107.00 $100.4K 15 3.5K 21SBUX PUT TRADE BEARISH 11/05/ $112.00 $64.9K 956 365 21

Where Is Starbucks Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 14,036,117, the price of SBUX is down -7.16% at $105.1.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 88 days.

What The Experts Say On Starbucks:

* Stifel downgraded its action to Hold with a price target of $112.0

* Cowen & Co. has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Starbucks, which currently sits at a price target of $125.0.

* Atlantic Equities downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $105.0

* Barclays has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Starbucks, which currently sits at a price target of $128.0.

* Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Starbucks, which currently sits at a price target of $122.0.

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.