Smart Money Is Betting Big In BLK Options

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on BlackRock BLK.

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 BLK, 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 16 uncommon options trades for BlackRock.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 25% bullish and 75%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 11 are puts, for a total amount of $953,052, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $226,302.

Predicted Price Range

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $550.0 and $1030.0 for BlackRock, spanning the last three months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

In today's trading context, the average open interest for options of BlackRock stands at 99.08, with a total volume reaching 289.00. The accompanying chart delineates the progression of both call and put option volume and open interest for high-value trades in BlackRock, situated within the strike price corridor from $550.0 to $1030.0, throughout the last 30 days.

BlackRock 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Biggest Options Spotted:

About BlackRock

BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world, with $10.008 trillion in assets under management at the end of December 2023. Its product mix is fairly diverse, with 52% of managed assets in equity strategies, 28% in fixed income, 9% in multi-asset classes, 8% in money market funds, and 3% in alternatives. Passive strategies account for around two thirds of long-term AUM, with the company's ETF platform maintaining a leading market share domestically and on a global basis. Product distribution is weighted more toward institutional clients, which by our calculations account for around 80% of AUM. BlackRock is geographically diverse, with clients in more than 100 countries and more than one third of managed assets coming from investors domiciled outside the US and Canada.

Where Is BlackRock Standing Right Now?

• With a volume of 401,641, the price of BLK is up 0.46% at $766.89.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 88 days.

Expert Opinions on BlackRock

Over the past month, 4 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $893.0.

• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Morgan Stanley keeps a Overweight rating on BlackRock with a target price of $1025.
• An analyst from JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on BlackRock, which currently sits at a price target of $767.
• Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowers its rating to Outperform with a new price target of $930.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from UBS keeps a Neutral rating on BlackRock with a target price of $850.

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 BlackRock, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.