This Is What Whales Are Betting On Baidu

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on Baidu BIDU.

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 BIDU, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what this whale just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 14 uncommon options trades for Baidu.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 64% bullish and 35%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $116,670, and 12 are calls, for a total amount of $552,030.

What's The Price Target?

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $120.0 to $165.0 for Baidu over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Baidu options trades today is 437.38 with a total volume of 813.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Baidu's big money trades within a strike price range of $120.0 to $165.0 over the last 30 days.

Baidu Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

Where Is Baidu Standing Right Now?

• With a volume of 859,711, the price of BIDU is up 2.33% at $153.73.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 83 days.

What The Experts Say On Baidu:

• Barclays has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Baidu, which currently sits at a price target of $181.
• Susquehanna has decided to maintain their Positive rating on Baidu, which currently sits at a price target of $175.
• Benchmark downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $200
• Mizuho has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Baidu, which currently sits at a price target of $190.
• Benchmark has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Baidu, which currently sits at a price target of $210.

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