Benzinga | Dec 29, 2021 01:16PM EST

Looking At Wells Fargo's Recent Whale Trades

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).

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 WFC, 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 16 uncommon options trades for Wells Fargo.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 50% bullish and 50%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 8 are puts, for a total amount of $2,435,615, and 8 are calls, for a total amount of $372,299.

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 $27.5 to $52.5 for Wells Fargo over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Wells Fargo'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 Wells Fargo's whale trades within a strike price range from $27.5 to $52.5 in the last 30 days.

Wells Fargo 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 InterestWFC PUT TRADE NEUTRAL 01/19/ $45.00 $660.0K 6.0K 1.0K 24WFC PUT TRADE BULLISH 10/21/ $47.50 $618.7K 40 1.2K 22WFC PUT SWEEP NEUTRAL 01/19/ $45.00 $400.1K 6.0K 1.6K 24WFC PUT TRADE BULLISH 01/20/ $52.50 $316.6K 1.2K 364 23WFC PUT TRADE NEUTRAL 03/18/ $47.50 $229.0K 10.3K 1.0K 22

Where Is Wells Fargo Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 4,437,264, the price of WFC is up 0.01% at $48.43.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 16 days.

What The Experts Say On Wells Fargo:

* Raymond James has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Wells Fargo, which currently sits at a price target of $58.

* Morgan Stanley upgraded its action to Overweight with a price target of $61

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.