Spotlight on AT&T: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on AT&T T.

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 T, 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 10 uncommon options trades for AT&T.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 70% bullish and 30%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 5 are puts, for a total amount of $362,790, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $456,728.

Predicted Price Range

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $16.5 and $24.0 for AT&T, spanning the last three months.

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 AT&T'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 AT&T's whale trades within a strike price range from $16.5 to $24.0 in the last 30 days.

AT&T Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About AT&T

The wireless business contributes about two thirds of AT&T's revenue following the spinoff of Warner Media. The firm is the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, connecting 70 million postpaid and 18 million prepaid phone customers. Fixed-line enterprise services, which account for about 18% of revenue, include internet access, private networking, security, voice, and wholesale network capacity. Residential fixed-line services, about 11% of revenue, primarily consist of broadband internet access service. AT&T also has a sizable presence in Mexico, serving 22 million customers, but this business only accounts for 3% of revenue. The firm still holds a 70% equity stake in satellite television provider DirecTV but does not consolidate this business in its financial statements.

Having examined the options trading patterns of AT&T, our attention now turns directly to the company. This shift allows us to delve into its present market position and performance

Present Market Standing of AT&T

• Trading volume stands at 18,364,426, with T's price down by -0.41%, positioned at $16.8.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Earnings announcement expected in 13 days.

Expert Opinions on AT&T

In the last month, 1 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $20.0.

• An analyst from Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on AT&T, which currently sits at a price target of $20.

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 AT&T, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.