Benzinga | Dec 23, 2021 11:04AM EST

What Are Whales Doing With Applied Materials

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 11 uncommon options trades for Applied Materials.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 45% bullish and 54%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $208,400, and 9 are calls, for a total amount of $545,100.

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 $75.0 to $155.0 for Applied Materials over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Applied Materials options trades today is 1250.78 with a total volume of 1,963.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Applied Materials's big money trades within a strike price range of $75.0 to $155.0 over 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 PUT TRADE BEARISH 01/21/ $155.00 $162.4K 1.8K 291 22AMAT CALL SWEEP BULLISH 12/23/ $145.00 $95.0K 233 103 21AMAT CALL SWEEP BULLISH 12/23/ $145.00 $89.0K 233 204 21AMAT CALL TRADE BULLISH 01/21/ $75.00 $80.0K 97 10 22AMAT CALL TRADE BEARISH 12/31/ $140.00 $64.0K 120 40 21

Where Is Applied Materials Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 1,389,203, the price of AMAT is up 2.31% at $155.84.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 56 days.

What The Experts Say On Applied Materials:

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

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

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.