Benzinga | Nov 16, 2021 12:56PM EST

What Are Whales Doing With Costco Wholesale

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST).

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual, we don't know. But when something this big happens with COST, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 12 options trades for Costco Wholesale.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 33.33% bullish and 66.67%, bearish.

Out of all of the options we uncovered, there was 1 put, for a total amount of $44,425, and 11, calls, for a total amount of $770,758..

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 $340.0 to $600.0 for Costco Wholesale over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

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 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 trades within a strike price range from $340.0 to $600.0 in the last 30 days.

Costco Wholesale Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

Symbol PUT/ Trade Sentiment Exp. Strike Total Trade Open Volume CALL Type Date Price Price InterestCOST CALL TRADE BEARISH 01/21/ $530.00 $192.0K 1.2K 239 22COST CALL SWEEP BULLISH 11/19/ $525.00 $116.3K 1.6K 1.7K 21COST CALL SWEEP BEARISH 01/20/ $490.00 $115.9K 531 15 23COST CALL SWEEP NEUTRAL 01/21/ $500.00 $72.9K 1.5K 43 22COST CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 01/21/ $450.00 $52.8K 1.2K 7 22

Where Is Costco Wholesale Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 560,442, the price of COST is up 1.35% at $526.93.

* RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be overbought.

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 23 days.

What The Experts Say On Costco Wholesale:

* Telsey Advisory Group has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $540.0.

* Raymond James has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $540.0.

* Oppenheimer has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $550.0.

* Stifel has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Costco Wholesale, which currently sits at a price target of $515.0.

* Gordon Haskett upgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $575.0

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 are already an options trader or would like to get started, head on over to Benzinga Pro. Benzinga Pro gives you up-to-date news and analytics to empower your investing and trading strategy.