Decoding Walmart's Options Activity: What's the Big Picture?

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Walmart WMT.

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 WMT, 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 32 uncommon options trades for Walmart.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 43% bullish and 56%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 12 are puts, for a total amount of $730,104, and 20 are calls, for a total amount of $1,356,482.

Predicted Price Range

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $35.0 to $120.0 for Walmart during the past quarter.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Assessing the volume and open interest is a strategic step in options trading. These metrics shed light on the liquidity and investor interest in Walmart's options at specified strike prices. The forthcoming data visualizes the fluctuation in volume and open interest for both calls and puts, linked to Walmart's substantial trades, within a strike price spectrum from $35.0 to $120.0 over the preceding 30 days.

Walmart 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Largest Options Trades Observed:

About Walmart

Walmart serves as the preeminent retailer in the United States, with its strategy predicated on superior operating efficiency and offering the lowest priced goods to consumers to drive robust store traffic and product turnover. Walmart augmented its low-price business strategy by offering a convenient one-stop shopping destination with the opening of its first supercenter in 1988.Today, Walmart operates over 4,600 stores in the United States (5,200 including Sam's Club) and over 10,000 locations globally. Walmart generated over $440 billion in domestic namesake sales in fiscal 2024, with Sam's Club contributing another $86 billion to the company's top line. Internationally, Walmart generated $115 billion in sales. The retailer serves around 240 million customers globally each week.

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

Current Position of Walmart

• With a volume of 6,146,366, the price of WMT is up 0.76% at $97.53.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 76 days.

Expert Opinions on Walmart

A total of 5 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $112.4.

Turn $1000 into $1270 in just 20 days?

20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access. * An analyst from Barclays has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Walmart, which currently sits at a price target of $108. * Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Piper Sandler lowers its rating to Overweight with a new price target of $114. * An analyst from UBS persists with their Buy rating on Walmart, maintaining a target price of $113. * An analyst from Telsey Advisory Group persists with their Outperform rating on Walmart, maintaining a target price of $115. * An analyst from JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Walmart, which currently sits at a price target of $112.

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