Looking At Wells Fargo's Recent Unusual Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Wells Fargo WFC.

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 WFC, 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 28 uncommon options trades for Wells Fargo.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 39% bullish and 60%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 11 are puts, for a total amount of $1,025,227, and 17 are calls, for a total amount of $1,716,132.

Projected Price Targets

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $20.0 and $57.5 for Wells Fargo, spanning the last three months.

Analyzing Volume & Open Interest

Examining the volume and open interest provides crucial insights into stock research. This information is key in gauging liquidity and interest levels for Wells Fargo's options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across Wells Fargo's significant trades, within a strike price range of $20.0 to $57.5, over the past month.

Wells Fargo Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Options Call Chart

Biggest Options Spotted:

Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume
WFC CALL TRADE BULLISH 04/19/24 $42.50 $818.1K 3.6K 3
WFC PUT SWEEP BEARISH 01/17/25 $45.00 $322.5K 20.7K 1.0K
WFC PUT TRADE NEUTRAL 01/19/24 $54.00 $202.1K 502 487
WFC CALL TRADE BULLISH 01/05/24 $47.50 $137.5K 660 0
WFC CALL TRADE BEARISH 01/19/24 $40.00 $131.6K 28.7K 4

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo is one of the largest banks in the United States, with approximately $1.9 trillion in balance sheet assets. The company has four primary segments: consumer banking, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management. It is almost entirely focused on the U.S.

In light of the recent options history for Wells Fargo, it's now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance.

Present Market Standing of Wells Fargo

  • Trading volume stands at 7,339,569, with WFC's price up by 1.56%, positioned at $50.05.
  • RSI indicators show the stock to be is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
  • Earnings announcement expected in 7 days.

Expert Opinions on Wells Fargo

A total of 3 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $56.36.

  • In a positive move, an analyst from Odeon Capital has upgraded their rating to Buy and adjusted the price target to $56.
  • An analyst from Piper Sandler has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Wells Fargo, which currently sits at a price target of $47.
  • Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Barclays keeps a Overweight rating on Wells Fargo with a target price of $66.

Options trading presents higher risks and potential rewards. Astute traders manage these risks by continually educating themselves, adapting their strategies, monitoring multiple indicators, and keeping a close eye on market movements. Stay informed about the latest Wells Fargo options trades with real-time alerts from Benzinga Pro.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
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Posted In: OptionsMarketsBZI-UOA
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