Benzinga | Dec 17, 2021 10:23AM EST

This Is What Whales Are Betting On AT&T

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on AT&T (NYSE:T).

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 T, 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 AT&T.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 57% bullish and 42%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 11 are puts, for a total amount of $988,429, and 3 are calls, for a total amount of $97,028.

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 $20.0 to $24.0 for AT&T 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 AT&T'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 AT&T's whale activity within a strike price range from $20.0 to $24.0 in the last 30 days.

AT&T 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 InterestT PUT SWEEP BEARISH 12/23/ $24.00 $193.7K 4.4K 3.6K 21T PUT SWEEP BULLISH 01/21/ $23.00 $179.3K 67.1K 310 22T PUT SWEEP BULLISH 01/21/ $23.00 $164.9K 67.1K 9.8K 22T PUT SWEEP BULLISH 12/17/ $24.00 $114.2K 26.8K 5.2K 21T PUT SWEEP BULLISH 01/21/ $23.00 $113.3K 67.1K 2.5K 22

Where Is AT&T Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 11,435,461.00, the price of T is down -1.61% at $23.33.

* RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 40 days.

What The Experts Say On AT&T:

* Morgan Stanley upgraded its action to Overweight with a price target of $28

* Citigroup has decided to maintain their Buy rating on AT&T, which currently sits at a price target of $29.

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.