Looking At Microsoft's Recent Whale Trades

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Microsoft MSFT.

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 MSFT, 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 159 uncommon options trades for Microsoft.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 47% bullish and 52%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 72 are puts, for a total amount of $6,631,210, and 87 are calls, for a total amount of $5,286,608.

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 $85.0 to $415.0 for Microsoft over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock.

This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Microsoft'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 Microsoft's whale activity within a strike price range from $85.0 to $415.0 in the last 30 days.

Microsoft Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

Where Is Microsoft Standing Right Now?

• With a volume of 26,731,032, the price of MSFT is up 1.85% at $300.47.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 70 days.

What The Experts Say On Microsoft:

• BMO Capital has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Microsoft, which currently sits at a price target of $355.
• Oppenheimer has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Microsoft, which currently sits at a price target of $340.
• Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Microsoft, which currently sits at a price target of $372.
• Tigress Financial has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Microsoft, which currently sits at a price target of $411.
• Citigroup has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Microsoft, which currently sits at a price target of $386.

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.