Benzinga | Jan 6, 2022 03:33PM EST

What Are Whales Doing With Applied Materials

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bearish stance on Applied Materials.

Looking at options history for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) we detected 12 strange trades.

If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 41% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 58% with bearish.

From the overall spotted trades, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $162,762 and 8, calls, for a total amount of $498,380.

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 $90.0 to $190.0 for Applied Materials 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 Applied Materials'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 Applied Materials's whale activity within a strike price range from $90.0 to $190.0 in the last 30 days.

Applied Materials 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 InterestAMAT CALL TRADE BULLISH 02/18/ $140.00 $241.2K 342 134 22AMAT PUT TRADE BEARISH 02/18/ $160.00 $57.5K 620 51 22AMAT CALL TRADE BULLISH 01/14/ $141.00 $49.5K 32 30 22AMAT CALL TRADE BULLISH 01/20/ $190.00 $46.8K 858 40 23AMAT PUT SWEEP BULLISH 01/14/ $157.50 $43.7K 229 152 22

Where Is Applied Materials Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 4,380,813, the price of AMAT is up 2.13% at $157.02.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 42 days.

What The Experts Say On Applied Materials:

* Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Applied Materials, which currently sits at a price target of $160.

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.