This Is What Whales Are Betting On Costco Wholesale

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 23 uncommon options trades for Costco Wholesale.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 26% bullish and 39%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 5 are puts, for a total amount of $228,375, and 18 are calls, for a total amount of $862,106.

Predicted Price Range

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $635.0 to $1000.0 for Costco Wholesale over the recent three 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 Costco Wholesale'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 Costco Wholesale's whale activity within a strike price range from $635.0 to $1000.0 in the last 30 days.

Costco Wholesale Option Activity Analysis: Last 30 Days

Significant Options Trades Detected:

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 over 600 warehouses in the United States and enjoys 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 UK.

Present Market Standing of Costco Wholesale

• With a volume of 227,845, the price of COST is up 0.14% at $871.96.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be overbought.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 96 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 $881.0.

• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Oppenheimer keeps a Outperform rating on Costco Wholesale with a target price of $905.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Oppenheimer continues to hold a Outperform rating for Costco Wholesale, targeting a price of $850.
• An analyst from TD Cowen has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $850.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Loop Capital keeps a Buy rating on Costco Wholesale with a target price of $940.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Evercore ISI Group keeps a Outperform rating on Costco Wholesale with a target price of $860.

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.