Benzinga | Jan 31, 2022 10:44AM EST

Moderna Whale Trades Spotted

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

Looking at options history for Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) we detected 18 strange trades.

If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 44% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 55% with bearish.

From the overall spotted trades, 12 are puts, for a total amount of $566,788 and 6, calls, for a total amount of $275,095.

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 $55.0 to $240.0 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 1477.42 with a total volume of 2,466.00.

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 $55.0 to $240.0 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 CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 02/18/ $160.00 $72.6K 490 67 22MRNA PUT SWEEP NEUTRAL 02/04/ $150.00 $68.8K 1.6K 975 22MRNA PUT TRADE BULLISH 03/18/ $150.00 $65.0K 1.0K 1 22MRNA PUT SWEEP BEARISH 01/20/ $55.00 $55.4K 410 186 23MRNA PUT SWEEP NEUTRAL 02/04/ $155.00 $52.9K 577 101 22

Where Is Moderna Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 1,598,095, the price of MRNA is up 1.0% at $161.07.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 24 days.

What The Experts Say On Moderna:

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

* SVB Leerink has decided to maintain their Underperform rating on Moderna, which currently sits at a price target of $85.

* Deutsche Bank upgraded its action to Hold with a price target of $175

* 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.