Benzinga | Jan 26, 2022 05:24PM EST

Looking At Texas Instruments's Recent Whale Trades

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN).

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 TXN, 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 15 uncommon options trades for Texas Instruments.

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, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $171,460, and 9 are calls, for a total amount of $411,755.

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 $150.0 to $200.0 for Texas Instruments 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 Texas Instruments'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 Texas Instruments's whale activity within a strike price range from $150.0 to $200.0 in the last 30 days.

Texas Instruments 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 InterestTXN CALL TRADE BEARISH 01/20/ $185.00 $91.7K 2.1K 52 23TXN CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/28/ $175.00 $62.5K 637 625 22TXN CALL SWEEP BEARISH 03/18/ $195.00 $46.9K 903 203 22TXN CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 01/28/ $180.00 $39.5K 2.8K 117 22TXN CALL SWEEP BULLISH 03/18/ $150.00 $39.3K 23 15 22

Where Is Texas Instruments Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 10,421,889, the price of TXN is up 2.52% at $178.35.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 90 days.

What The Experts Say On Texas Instruments:

* Mizuho has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Texas Instruments, which currently sits at a price target of $190.

* Citigroup downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $187

* Deutsche Bank has decided to maintain their Hold rating on Texas Instruments, which currently sits at a price target of $180.

* Deutsche Bank has decided to maintain their Hold rating on Texas Instruments, which currently sits at a price target of $170.

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.