Check Out What Whales Are Doing With COST

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Costco Wholesale COST.

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 COST, 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 27 uncommon options trades for Costco Wholesale.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 40% bullish and 37%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $202,951, and 21 are calls, for a total amount of $1,313,088.

Expected Price Movements

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $295.0 to $885.0 for Costco Wholesale over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Assessing the volume and open interest is a strategic step in options trading. These metrics shed light on the liquidity and investor interest in Costco Wholesale's options at specified strike prices. The forthcoming data visualizes the fluctuation in volume and open interest for both calls and puts, linked to Costco Wholesale's substantial trades, within a strike price spectrum from $295.0 to $885.0 over the preceding 30 days.

Costco Wholesale Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About Costco Wholesale

Costco operates a membership-based, no-frills retail model, predicated on offering a select product assortment in bulk quantities at bargain prices. The firm avoids maintaining costly product displays by keeping inventory on pallets and limits distribution expenses by storing its inventory at point of sale in the warehouse. Given Costco's frugal cost structure, the firm is able to price its merchandise below competing retailers, driving high sales volume per warehouse and allowing the retailer to generate strong profits on thin margins. Costco operates over 600 warehouses in the United States and enjoys over 60% market share in the domestic warehouse club industry. Internationally, Costco operates another 270 warehouses, primarily in markets such as Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the UK.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with Costco Wholesale, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

Present Market Standing of Costco Wholesale

• With a volume of 713,385, the price of COST is up 1.39% at $854.59.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 71 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Costco Wholesale

5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $950.4.

• An analyst from Evercore ISI Group has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $890.
• An analyst from Stifel persists with their Buy rating on Costco Wholesale, maintaining a target price of $950.
• An analyst from B of A Securities persists with their Buy rating on Costco Wholesale, maintaining a target price of $962.
• An analyst from Baird has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $975.
• An analyst from Tigress Financial has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $975.

Trading options involves greater risks but also offers the potential for higher profits. Savvy traders mitigate these risks through ongoing education, strategic trade adjustments, utilizing various indicators, and staying attuned to market dynamics. Keep up with the latest options trades for Costco Wholesale with Benzinga Pro for real-time alerts.