Smart Money Is Betting Big In AMGN Options

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Amgen AMGN.

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 AMGN, 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 8 uncommon options trades for Amgen.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 50% bullish and 12%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $937,189, and 2 are calls, for a total amount of $57,610.

Expected Price Movements

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $290.0 to $365.0 for Amgen over the recent three months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Amgen options trades today is 402.86 with a total volume of 485.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Amgen's big money trades within a strike price range of $290.0 to $365.0 over the last 30 days.

Amgen Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Largest Options Trades Observed:

About Amgen

Amgen is a leader in biotechnology-based human therapeutics. Flagship drugs include red blood cell boosters Epogen and Aranesp, immune system boosters Neupogen and Neulasta, and Enbrel and Otezla for inflammatory diseases. Amgen introduced its first cancer therapeutic, Vectibix, in 2006 and markets bone-strengthening drug Prolia/Xgeva (approved 2010) and Evenity (2019). The acquisition of Onyx bolstered the firm's therapeutic oncology portfolio with Kyprolis. Recent launches include Repatha (cholesterol-lowering), Aimovig (migraine), Lumakras (lung cancer), and Tezspire (asthma). The 2023 Horizon acquisition brings several rare-disease drugs, including thyroid eye disease drug Tepezza. Amgen also has a growing biosimilar portfolio.

In light of the recent options history for Amgen, it's now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance.

Current Position of Amgen

• With a trading volume of 846,808, the price of AMGN is down by -0.94%, reaching $319.47.
• Current RSI values indicate that the stock is is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings report is scheduled for 78 days from now.

What The Experts Say On Amgen

Over the past month, 5 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $342.4.

• Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Wells Fargo lowers its rating to Equal-Weight with a new price target of $335.
• An analyst from Deutsche Bank downgraded its action to Hold with a price target of $305.
• An analyst from Oppenheimer has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Amgen, which currently sits at a price target of $380.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from RBC Capital keeps a Outperform rating on Amgen with a target price of $362.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from B of A Securities keeps a Neutral rating on Amgen with a target price of $330.

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