Microsoft's Options Frenzy: What You Need to Know

Deep-pocketed investors have adopted a bullish approach towards Microsoft MSFT, and it's something market players shouldn't ignore. Our tracking of public options records at Benzinga unveiled this significant move today. The identity of these investors remains unknown, but such a substantial move in MSFT usually suggests something big is about to happen.

We gleaned this information from our observations today when Benzinga's options scanner highlighted 11 extraordinary options activities for Microsoft. This level of activity is out of the ordinary.

The general mood among these heavyweight investors is divided, with 45% leaning bullish and 36% bearish. Among these notable options, 4 are puts, totaling $244,694, and 7 are calls, amounting to $377,256.

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 $400.0 and $505.0 for Microsoft, 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 Microsoft'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 Microsoft's whale trades within a strike price range from $400.0 to $505.0 in the last 30 days.

Microsoft Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About Microsoft

Microsoft develops and licenses consumer and enterprise software. It is known for its Windows operating systems and Office productivity suite. The company is organized into three equally sized broad segments: productivity and business processes (legacy Microsoft Office, cloud-based Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Skype, LinkedIn, Dynamics), intelligence cloud (infrastructure- and platform-as-a-service offerings Azure, Windows Server OS, SQL Server), and more personal computing (Windows Client, Xbox, Bing search, display advertising, and Surface laptops, tablets, and desktops).

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with Microsoft, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

Microsoft's Current Market Status

• Trading volume stands at 2,853,789, with MSFT's price down by -0.16%, positioned at $420.37.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Earnings announcement expected in 67 days.

What The Experts Say On Microsoft

In the last month, 5 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $506.0.

• An analyst from Piper Sandler has revised its rating downward to Overweight, adjusting the price target to $485.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Citigroup keeps a Buy rating on Microsoft with a target price of $500.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Piper Sandler keeps a Overweight rating on Microsoft with a target price of $485.
• An analyst from Wedbush has revised its rating downward to Outperform, adjusting the price target to $550.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from UBS keeps a Buy rating on Microsoft with a target price of $510.

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