Facebook's Big Money Trades Spotted

Someone with a lot of money to spend (and possibly insider knowledge) has taken an unusually bullish stance on Facebook.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual, we don't know. But when something this big happens with FB, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what the Smart Money just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 15 uncommon options trades for Facebook FB. The overall sentiment shows 53.33% of the big-money traders are bullish on the stock and 46.67%, bearish. Out of all of the special options found by our algorithm, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $159,065 and 13, calls, for a total amount of $2,253,860.

Volume & Open Interest Development

Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Facebook's options for a given strike price. Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Facebook's smart money trades within a strike price range from $310.0 to $372.5 in the last 30 days. In red, the open interest, in blue, the volume, and in green the volume/open interest.

Biggest Options Spotted:

Where Is Facebook Standing Right Now?

• With a volume of 4,442,710, the price of FB is up 0.86% over the last 24 hours at $366.47.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 65 days.

What The Experts Say On Facebook:

• Keybanc has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Facebook, which currently sits at a price target of $420.0.
• JMP Securities has decided to maintain their Market Outperform rating on Facebook, which currently sits at a price target of $425.0.
• Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Facebook, which currently sits at a price target of $400.0.
• Arete Research downgraded its action to Neutral saying the stock has the potential to tumble 3.96% to a target of $381.0
• Credit Suisse has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Facebook, which currently sits at a price target of $500.0.

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 are already an options trader or would like to get started, head on over to Benzinga Pro. Benzinga Pro gives you up-to-date news and analytics to empower your investing and trading strategy.