Benzinga | Jan 13, 2022 02:33PM EST

Looking At BlackRock's Recent Whale Trades

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on BlackRock (NYSE:BLK).

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 BLK, 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 10 uncommon options trades for BlackRock.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 70% bullish and 30%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $468,400, and 4 are calls, for a total amount of $237,200.

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 $600.0 to $910.0 for BlackRock 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 BlackRock'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 BlackRock's whale activity within a strike price range from $600.0 to $910.0 in the last 30 days.

BlackRock 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 InterestBLK PUT TRADE BULLISH 03/18/ $780.00 $125.0K 1.4K 1.0K 22BLK PUT TRADE BULLISH 03/18/ $780.00 $114.0K 1.4K 714 22BLK CALL TRADE BEARISH 01/20/ $900.00 $105.0K 112 12 23BLK PUT SWEEP BULLISH 03/18/ $780.00 $100.0K 1.4K 407 22BLK PUT SWEEP BULLISH 03/18/ $780.00 $60.8K 1.4K 206 22

Where Is BlackRock Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 328,202, the price of BLK is down -1.21% at $874.43.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 1 days.

What The Experts Say On BlackRock:

* Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on BlackRock, which currently sits at a price target of $1051.

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.