Looking At Netflix's Recent Unusual Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Netflix NFLX.

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 NFLX, 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 10 uncommon options trades for Netflix.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 50% bullish and 50%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $384,257, and 6 are calls, for a total amount of $648,234.

Projected Price Targets

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $360.0 to $500.0 for Netflix over the recent three months.

Analyzing Volume & Open Interest

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Netflix options trades today is 1541.11 with a total volume of 877.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Netflix's big money trades within a strike price range of $360.0 to $500.0 over the last 30 days.

Netflix Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Biggest Options Spotted:

About Netflix

Netflix's relatively simple business model involves only one business, its streaming service. It has the biggest television entertainment subscriber base in both the United States and the collective international market, with almost 250 million subscribers globally. Netflix has exposure to nearly the entire global population outside of China. The firm has traditionally avoided live programming or sports content, instead focusing on on-demand access to episodic television, movies, and documentaries. The firm recently began introducing ad-supported subscription plans, giving the firm exposure to the advertising market in addition to the subscription fees that have historically accounted for nearly all its revenue.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with Netflix, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

Present Market Standing of Netflix

• With a volume of 447,907, the price of NFLX is down -0.18% at $490.31.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 27 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Netflix

Over the past month, 3 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $523.3333333333334.

• An analyst from DZ Bank downgraded its action to Hold with a price target of $495.
• Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Wedbush lowers its rating to Outperform with a new price target of $525.
• An analyst from Morgan Stanley persists with their Overweight rating on Netflix, maintaining a target price of $550.

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