Decoding Costco Wholesale's Options Activity: What's the Big Picture?

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 15 uncommon options trades for Costco Wholesale.

This isn't normal.

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

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 3 are puts, for a total amount of $220,220, and 12 are calls, for a total amount of $739,956.

Projected Price Targets

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $600.0 and $1005.0 for Costco Wholesale, spanning the last three months.

Insights into Volume & Open Interest

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Costco Wholesale options trades today is 334.38 with a total volume of 950.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Costco Wholesale's big money trades within a strike price range of $600.0 to $1005.0 over the last 30 days.

Costco Wholesale Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Significant Options Trades Detected:

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.

Costco Wholesale's Current Market Status

• Currently trading with a volume of 656,907, the COST's price is down by -0.03%, now at $846.01.
• RSI readings suggest the stock is currently is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Anticipated earnings release is in 68 days.

What The Experts Say On Costco Wholesale

5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $931.4.

• An analyst from B of A Securities persists with their Buy rating on Costco Wholesale, maintaining a target price of $962.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from TD Cowen continues to hold a Buy rating for Costco Wholesale, targeting a price of $925.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Stifel continues to hold a Buy rating for Costco Wholesale, targeting a price of $950.
• An analyst from Evercore ISI Group persists with their Outperform rating on Costco Wholesale, maintaining a target price of $920.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Stifel continues to hold a Buy rating for Costco Wholesale, targeting a price of $900.

Options trading presents higher risks and potential rewards. Astute traders manage these risks by continually educating themselves, adapting their strategies, monitoring multiple indicators, and keeping a close eye on market movements. Stay informed about the latest Costco Wholesale options trades with real-time alerts from Benzinga Pro.