What Are Whales Doing With Alcoa

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on Alcoa AA.

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 AA, 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 Alcoa.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 57% bullish and 42%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $60,942, and 12 are calls, for a total amount of $1,664,447.

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 $55.0 to $80.0 for Alcoa over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

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 Alcoa'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 Alcoa's whale trades within a strike price range from $55.0 to $80.0 in the last 30 days.

Alcoa Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

Where Is Alcoa Standing Right Now?

• With a volume of 2,689,612, the price of AA is up 2.89% at $76.18.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be overbought.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 57 days.

What The Experts Say On Alcoa:

• Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Alcoa, which currently sits at a price target of $65.
• Goldman Sachs has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Alcoa, which currently sits at a price target of $88.
• BMO Capital has decided to maintain their Market Perform rating on Alcoa, which currently sits at a price target of $65.
• Jefferies has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Alcoa, which currently sits at a price target of $90.
• Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Alcoa, which currently sits at a price target of $78.

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.