Unpacking the Latest Options Trading Trends in 3M

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on 3M MMM.

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 MMM, 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 9 uncommon options trades for 3M.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 44% bullish and 33%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $435,555, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $792,093.

Expected Price Movements

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $105.0 to $155.0 for 3M over the recent three months.

Analyzing Volume & Open Interest

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for 3M options trades today is 1773.43 with a total volume of 7,195.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for 3M's big money trades within a strike price range of $105.0 to $155.0 over the last 30 days.

3M 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Largest Options Trades Observed:

About 3M

3M, a multinational conglomerate founded in 1902, sells tens of thousands of products ranging from sponges to respirators. The firm is well known for its extensive research and development capabilities, and it is a pioneer in inventing new use cases for its proprietary technologies. 3M is organized across three business segments: safety and industrial (representing around 44% of revenue), transportation and electronics (36%), and consumer (20%). The firm recently spun off its healthcare business, now known as Solventum. Nearly half of 3M's revenue comes from outside the Americas.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with 3M, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

3M's Current Market Status

• Trading volume stands at 4,169,125, with MMM's price down by -1.11%, positioned at $126.14.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be may be overbought.
• Earnings announcement expected in 82 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for 3M

Over the past month, 5 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $131.6.

• An analyst from Argus Research upgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $145.
• An analyst from Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on 3M, which currently sits at a price target of $110.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Barclays keeps a Overweight rating on 3M with a target price of $120.
• Showing optimism, an analyst from Deutsche Bank upgrades its rating to Buy with a revised price target of $150.
• An analyst from Citigroup has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on 3M, which currently sits at a price target of $133.

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 3M, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.