Spotlight on Costco Wholesale: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Costco Wholesale COST.

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 COST, 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 26 uncommon options trades for Costco Wholesale.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 46% bullish and 53%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 8 are puts, for a total amount of $782,654, and 18 are calls, for a total amount of $1,857,744.

Expected Price Movements

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $260.0 to $660.0 for Costco Wholesale over the recent three months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Assessing the volume and open interest is a strategic step in options trading. These metrics shed light on the liquidity and investor interest in Costco Wholesale's options at specified strike prices. The forthcoming data visualizes the fluctuation in volume and open interest for both calls and puts, linked to Costco Wholesale's substantial trades, within a strike price spectrum from $260.0 to $660.0 over the preceding 30 days.

Costco Wholesale Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Largest Options Trades Observed:

About Costco Wholesale

Costco operates a membership-based, no-frills retail model, predicated on offering a select product assortment in bulk quantities at bargain prices. The firm avoids maintaining costly product displays by keeping inventory on pallets and limits distribution expenses by storing its inventory at point of sale in the warehouse. Given Costco's frugal cost structure, the firm is able to price its merchandise below competing retailers, driving high sales volume per warehouse and allowing the retailer to generate strong profits on thin margins. Costco operates 591 warehouses in the United States and boasts over 60% market share in the domestic warehouse club industry. Internationally, Costco operates another 270 warehouses, primarily in markets such as Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the U.K.

Present Market Standing of Costco Wholesale

• Trading volume stands at 830,703, with COST's price up by 0.17%, positioned at $592.36.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be may be overbought.
• Earnings announcement expected in 17 days.

What The Experts Say On Costco Wholesale

In the last month, 5 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $600.0.

• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from JP Morgan keeps a Overweight rating on Costco Wholesale with a target price of $605.
• An analyst from Telsey Advisory Group has revised its rating downward to Outperform, adjusting the price target to $600.
• An analyst from Stifel persists with their Buy rating on Costco Wholesale, maintaining a target price of $595.
• An analyst from Telsey Advisory Group downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of $600.
• In a cautious move, an analyst from Telsey Advisory Group downgraded its rating to Outperform, setting a price target of $600.

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