Benzinga | Jan 21, 2022 03:04PM EST

This Is What Whales Are Betting On Marathon Petroleum

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC).

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 MPC, 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 Marathon Petroleum.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 36% bullish and 63%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $311,067, and 7 are calls, for a total amount of $408,409.

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 $25.0 to $72.5 for Marathon Petroleum 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 Marathon Petroleum'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 Marathon Petroleum's whale trades within a strike price range from $25.0 to $72.5 in the last 30 days.

Marathon Petroleum 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 InterestMPC PUT SWEEP BEARISH 04/14/ $70.00 $128.2K 263 767 22MPC CALL SWEEP BEARISH 02/18/ $67.50 $98.9K 1.3K 0 22MPC CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/21/ $65.00 $88.8K 6.0K 206 22MPC PUT SWEEP BEARISH 04/14/ $70.00 $72.2K 263 1.2K 22MPC PUT SWEEP BEARISH 04/14/ $70.00 $56.0K 263 892 22

Where Is Marathon Petroleum Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 6,563,887, the price of MPC is down -1.45% at $70.94.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 12 days.

What The Experts Say On Marathon Petroleum:

* Barclays has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Marathon Petroleum, which currently sits at a price target of $80.

* Cowen & Co. has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Marathon Petroleum, which currently sits at a price target of $75.

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.