Benzinga | Dec 17, 2021 11:23AM EST

Looking At Applied Materials's Recent Whale Trades

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT).

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 AMAT, 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 18 uncommon options trades for Applied Materials.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 38% bullish and 61%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 8 are puts, for a total amount of $447,576, and 10 are calls, for a total amount of $1,139,218.

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 $120.0 to $165.0 for Applied Materials 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 Applied Materials'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 Applied Materials's whale activity within a strike price range from $120.0 to $165.0 in the last 30 days.

Applied Materials 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 InterestAMAT CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/21/ $145.00 $615.9K 2.6K 42 22AMAT CALL SWEEP BEARISH 01/21/ $150.00 $191.7K 4.8K 6 22AMAT CALL SWEEP BULLISH 06/17/ $160.00 $125.0K 2.4K 3 22AMAT PUT SWEEP BEARISH 01/21/ $145.00 $99.8K 2.0K 108 22AMAT PUT SWEEP BEARISH 01/07/ $160.00 $57.3K 30 41 22

Where Is Applied Materials Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 2,243,456.00, the price of AMAT is up 1.28% at $148.58.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 62 days.

What The Experts Say On Applied Materials:

* Credit Suisse has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Applied Materials, which currently sits at a price target of $200.

* Needham has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Applied Materials, which currently sits at a price target of $166.

* Citigroup has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Applied Materials, which currently sits at a price target of $175.

* Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Applied Materials, which currently sits at a price target of $160.

* Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Applied Materials, which currently sits at a price target of $180.

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.