Benzinga | Jan 4, 2022 11:30AM EST

This Is What Whales Are Betting On Moderna

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA).

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 MRNA, 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 32 uncommon options trades for Moderna.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 43% bullish and 56%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 13 are puts, for a total amount of $794,085, and 19 are calls, for a total amount of $1,229,285.

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 $95.0 to $740.0 for Moderna 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 Moderna'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 Moderna's whale activity within a strike price range from $95.0 to $740.0 in the last 30 days.

Moderna 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 InterestMRNA CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 01/21/ $95.00 $362.0K 379 30 22MRNA PUT TRADE BEARISH 02/18/ $200.00 $181.0K 3.5K 570 22MRNA PUT SWEEP BULLISH 01/14/ $220.00 $140.9K 514 489 22MRNA CALL SWEEP NEUTRAL 01/21/ $140.00 $105.4K 1.9K 25 22MRNA PUT TRADE BEARISH 02/18/ $200.00 $89.9K 3.5K 878 22

Where Is Moderna Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 4,412,948, the price of MRNA is down -2.09% at $230.15.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 51 days.

What The Experts Say On Moderna:

* Cowen & Co. downgraded its action to Market Perform with a price target of $250

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.