Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Merck & Co MRK.
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 MRK, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.
Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 11 options trades for Merck & Co.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 45% bullish and 54%, bearish.
Out of all of the options we uncovered, there was 1 put, for a total amount of $37,352, and 10, calls, for a total amount of $617,042..
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 $95.0 to $110.0 for Merck & Co over the last 3 months.
Volume & Open Interest Development
In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Merck & Co options trades today is 3037.33 with a total volume of 2,095.00.
In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Merck & Co's big money trades within a strike price range of $95.0 to $110.0 over the last 30 days.
Merck & Co Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days
Biggest Options Spotted:
| Symbol | PUT/CALL | Trade Type | Sentiment | Exp. Date | Strike Price | Total Trade Price | Open Interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRK | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 09/15/23 | $95.00 | $109.4K | 210 | 103 |
| MRK | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 06/21/24 | $110.00 | $100.4K | 969 | 218 |
| MRK | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 01/19/24 | $110.00 | $74.1K | 3.7K | 317 |
| MRK | CALL | SWEEP | NEUTRAL | 06/21/24 | $110.00 | $63.3K | 969 | 305 |
| MRK | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 06/21/24 | $110.00 | $57.6K | 969 | 390 |
Where Is Merck & Co Standing Right Now?
- With a volume of 3,075,853, the price of MRK is down -0.7% at $104.99.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 83 days.
What The Experts Say On Merck & Co:
- Truist Securities has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Merck & Co, which currently sits at a price target of $122.
- Truist Securities has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Merck & Co, which currently sits at a price target of $116.
- Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Merck & Co, which currently sits at a price target of $116.
- Morgan Stanley downgraded its action to Equal-Weight with a price target of $109
- HSBC downgraded its action to Hold with a price target of $123
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 Merck & Co, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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