Benzinga | Jan 5, 2022 10:45AM EST

What Are Whales Doing With Microsoft

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bearish stance on Microsoft.

Looking at options history for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) we detected 10 strange trades.

If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 30% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 70% with bearish.

From the overall spotted trades, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $111,220 and 8, calls, for a total amount of $389,510.

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 $320.0 to $335.0 for Microsoft 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 Microsoft'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 Microsoft's whale activity within a strike price range from $320.0 to $335.0 in the last 30 days.

Microsoft 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 InterestMSFT CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/07/ $327.50 $114.7K 1.7K 3.1K 22MSFT PUT SWEEP BULLISH 01/14/ $320.00 $77.9K 2.6K 510 22MSFT CALL TRADE BEARISH 03/18/ $325.00 $55.2K 5.5K 160 22MSFT CALL SWEEP BEARISH 01/07/ $325.00 $41.9K 1.4K 1.8K 22MSFT CALL SWEEP BEARISH 01/07/ $332.50 $41.5K 6.0K 3.3K 22

Where Is Microsoft Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 7,872,352, the price of MSFT is down -1.97% at $322.53.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 20 days.

What The Experts Say On Microsoft:

* SMBC Nikko downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of $410

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.