Benzinga | Jan 6, 2022 02:06PM EST

This Is What Whales Are Betting On Novavax

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX).

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 NVAX, 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 12 uncommon options trades for Novavax.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 58% bullish and 41%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 3 are puts, for a total amount of $230,816, and 9 are calls, for a total amount of $603,427.

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 $125.0 to $170.0 for Novavax 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 Novavax'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 Novavax's whale activity within a strike price range from $125.0 to $170.0 in the last 30 days.

Novavax 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 InterestNVAX PUT TRADE BULLISH 01/20/ $135.00 $180.3K 3.3K 161 23NVAX CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/20/ $140.00 $172.5K 693 50 23NVAX CALL TRADE BEARISH 04/14/ $170.00 $136.0K 697 119 22NVAX CALL TRADE BEARISH 01/14/ $125.00 $96.0K 132 121 22NVAX CALL TRADE BULLISH 01/20/ $140.00 $44.8K 693 96 23

Where Is Novavax Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 4,881,628, the price of NVAX is down -0.7% at $121.55.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 53 days.

What The Experts Say On Novavax:

* JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Novavax, which currently sits at a price target of $209.

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.