Benzinga | Jan 24, 2022 01:16PM 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 13 uncommon options trades for Moderna.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 46% bullish and 53%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 10 are puts, for a total amount of $2,390,411, and 3 are calls, for a total amount of $568,646.

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 $100.0 to $390.0 for Moderna over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Moderna options trades today is 579.17 with a total volume of 3,062.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Moderna's big money trades within a strike price range of $100.0 to $390.0 over 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 PUT SWEEP BULLISH 02/18/ $230.00 $1.6M 1.7K 227 22MRNA CALL TRADE BULLISH 03/18/ $170.00 $499.5K 109 490 22MRNA PUT TRADE BULLISH 01/19/ $390.00 $246.0K 25 10 24MRNA PUT TRADE BEARISH 02/18/ $140.00 $125.5K 1.8K 397 22MRNA PUT TRADE BEARISH 01/19/ $100.00 $110.4K 9 500 24

Where Is Moderna Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 7,885,972, the price of MRNA is down -12.54% at $140.0.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 31 days.

What The Experts Say On Moderna:

* UBS downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $221

* Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Moderna, which currently sits at a price target of $315.

* B of A Securities upgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $180

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.