Market Whales and Their Recent Bets on Morgan Stanley Options

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Morgan Stanley MS.

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 MS, 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 11 uncommon options trades for Morgan Stanley.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 36% bullish and 63%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $390,607, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $297,914.

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 $60.0 to $165.0 for Morgan Stanley over the last 3 months.

Insights into Volume & Open Interest

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Morgan Stanley options trades today is 1364.29 with a total volume of 1,299.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Morgan Stanley's big money trades within a strike price range of $60.0 to $165.0 over the last 30 days.

Morgan Stanley Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a global investment bank whose history, through its legacy firms, can be traced back to 1924. The company has institutional securities, wealth management, and investment management segments with approximately 45% of net revenue from its institutional securities business, 45% from wealth management, and 10% from investment management. About 30% of its total revenue is from outside the Americas. The company had over $5 trillion of client assets as well as around 80,000 employees at the end of 2023.

After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding Morgan Stanley, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.

Present Market Standing of Morgan Stanley

• Trading volume stands at 2,825,534, with MS's price down by -0.81%, positioned at $124.7.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be may be approaching oversold.
• Earnings announcement expected in 14 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Morgan Stanley

Over the past month, 1 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $104.0.

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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. * An analyst from JP Morgan persists with their Neutral rating on Morgan Stanley, maintaining a target price of $104.

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 Morgan Stanley options trades with real-time alerts from Benzinga Pro.