Caterpillar Unusual Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Caterpillar CAT.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with CAT, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 39 uncommon options trades for Caterpillar.

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, 12 are puts, for a total amount of $1,333,492, and 27 are calls, for a total amount of $1,592,562.

Predicted Price Range

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $270.0 to $420.0 for Caterpillar during the past quarter.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Caterpillar'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 Caterpillar's whale trades within a strike price range from $270.0 to $420.0 in the last 30 days.

Caterpillar Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar is the premier manufacturer of heavy equipment, power solutions, and locomotives. It is currently the world's largest manufacturer of heavy equipment with over 13% market share in 2021. The company is divided into four reportable segments: construction industries, resource industries, energy and transportation, and Caterpillar Financial Services. Its products are available through a dealer network that covers the globe with about 2,700 branches maintained by 160 dealers. Caterpillar Financial Services provides retail financing for machinery and engines to its customers, in addition to wholesale financing for dealers, which increases the likelihood of Caterpillar product sales.

After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding Caterpillar, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.

Present Market Standing of Caterpillar

• With a volume of 678,066, the price of CAT is up 0.27% at $338.14.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 43 days.

What The Experts Say On Caterpillar

Over the past month, 1 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $338.0.

• An analyst from Evercore ISI Group downgraded its action to In-Line with a price target of $338.

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 want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Caterpillar, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.