Caterpillar's Options Frenzy: What You Need to Know

Financial giants have made a conspicuous bearish move on Caterpillar. Our analysis of options history for Caterpillar CAT revealed 85 unusual trades.

Delving into the details, we found 47% of traders were bullish, while 52% showed bearish tendencies. Out of all the trades we spotted, 72 were puts, with a value of $4,397,472, and 13 were calls, valued at $515,569.

Predicted Price Range

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $220.0 to $320.0 for Caterpillar during the past quarter.

Insights into Volume & Open Interest

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 Caterpillar'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 Caterpillar's whale trades within a strike price range from $220.0 to $320.0 in the last 30 days.

Caterpillar Option Activity Analysis: Last 30 Days

Options Call Chart

Largest Options Trades Observed:

Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume
CAT CALL TRADE BEARISH 02/02/24 $220.00 $106.2K 0 18
CAT PUT SWEEP BULLISH 04/19/24 $290.00 $101.9K 0 605
CAT PUT SWEEP BULLISH 04/19/24 $290.00 $90.2K 0 445
CAT PUT TRADE BULLISH 04/19/24 $290.00 $89.7K 0 695
CAT PUT TRADE BULLISH 02/23/24 $285.00 $84.7K 90 30

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar is the premier manufacturer of heavy equipment, power solutions, and locomotives. It is currently the world's largest manufacturer of heavy equipment with over 13% market share in 2021. The company is divided into four reportable segments: construction industries, resource industries, energy and transportation, and Caterpillar Financial Services. Its products are available through a dealer network that covers the globe with about 2,700 branches maintained by 160 dealers. Caterpillar Financial Services provides retail financing for machinery and engines to its customers, in addition to wholesale financing for dealers, which increases the likelihood of Caterpillar product sales.

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

Where Is Caterpillar Standing Right Now?

  • With a volume of 2,479,762, the price of CAT is down -3.18% at $278.11.
  • RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversold.
  • Next earnings are expected to be released in 13 days.

What Analysts Are Saying About Caterpillar

3 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $269.3333333333333.

  • Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Bernstein continues to hold a Market Perform rating for Caterpillar, targeting a price of $245.
  • Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Stifel keeps a Buy rating on Caterpillar with a target price of $293.
  • An analyst from Morgan Stanley downgraded its action to Equal-Weight with a price target of $270.

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

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Posted In: OptionsMarketsBZI-UOA
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