Bank of America's Options Frenzy: What You Need to Know

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Bank of America BAC.

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 BAC, 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 Bank of America.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 50% bullish and 40%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 7 are puts, for a total amount of $248,560, and 3 are calls, for a total amount of $110,480.

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 $32.0 to $55.0 for Bank of America over the last 3 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 Bank of America'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 Bank of America's whale activity within a strike price range from $32.0 to $55.0 in the last 30 days.

Bank of America Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, with more than $3.0 trillion in assets. It is organized into four major segments: consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking, and global markets. Bank of America's consumer-facing lines of business include its network of branches and deposit-gathering operations, retail lending products, credit and debit cards, and small-business services. The company's Merrill Lynch operations provide brokerage and wealth-management services, as does its private bank. Wholesale lines of business include investment banking, corporate and commercial real estate lending, and capital markets operations. Bank of America has operations in several countries but is primarily US-focused.

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

Current Position of Bank of America

• Currently trading with a volume of 2,103,178, the BAC's price is down by -0.94%, now at $40.52.
• RSI readings suggest the stock is currently may be approaching overbought.
• Anticipated earnings release is in 11 days.

What Analysts Are Saying About Bank of America

4 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $44.5.

• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Evercore ISI Group keeps a Outperform rating on Bank of America with a target price of $43.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Jefferies continues to hold a Hold rating for Bank of America, targeting a price of $41.
• Showing optimism, an analyst from Seaport Global upgrades its rating to Buy with a revised price target of $48.
• An analyst from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has elevated its stance to Outperform, setting a new price target at $46.

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 Bank of America, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.