Spotlight on Booking Holdings: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Booking Holdings BKNG.

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 BKNG, 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 33 uncommon options trades for Booking Holdings.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 36% bullish and 21%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 13 are puts, for a total amount of $448,190, and 20 are calls, for a total amount of $1,179,777.

Predicted Price Range

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $3700.0 to $4500.0 for Booking Holdings over the last 3 months.

Insights into Volume & Open Interest

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Booking Holdings options trades today is 67.68 with a total volume of 186.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Booking Holdings's big money trades within a strike price range of $3700.0 to $4500.0 over the last 30 days.

Booking Holdings 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Biggest Options Spotted:

About Booking Holdings

Booking is the world's largest online travel agency by sales, offering booking and payment services for hotel and alternative accommodation rooms, airline tickets, rental cars, restaurant reservations, cruises, experiences, and other vacation packages. The company operates several branded travel booking sites, including Booking.com, Agoda, OpenTable, and Rentalcars.com, and has expanded into travel media with the acquisitions of Kayak and Momondo. Transaction fees for online bookings account for the bulk of revenue and profits.

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

Present Market Standing of Booking Holdings

• With a trading volume of 44,749, the price of BKNG is up by 0.72%, reaching $4126.78.
• Current RSI values indicate that the stock is may be approaching overbought.
• Next earnings report is scheduled for 37 days from now.

Expert Opinions on Booking Holdings

In the last month, 5 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $3936.0.

Turn $1000 into $1270 in just 20 days?

20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access. * In a cautious move, an analyst from Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded its rating to Neutral, setting a price target of $3590. * An analyst from Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Booking Holdings, which currently sits at a price target of $4200. * An analyst from Jefferies downgraded its action to Hold with a price target of $4200. * In a cautious move, an analyst from Truist Securities downgraded its rating to Hold, setting a price target of $4100. * An analyst from Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $3590.

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