Benzinga | Jan 3, 2022 12:32PM EST

What Are Whales Doing With Citigroup

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bullish stance on Citigroup.

Looking at options history for Citigroup (NYSE:C) we detected 28 strange trades.

If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 60% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 39% with bearish.

From the overall spotted trades, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $78,354 and 26, calls, for a total amount of $1,340,341.

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 $40.0 to $75.0 for Citigroup 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 Citigroup'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 Citigroup's whale activity within a strike price range from $40.0 to $75.0 in the last 30 days.

Citigroup 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 InterestC CALL TRADE BULLISH 01/21/ $57.50 $258.8K 5.4K 578 22C CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/21/ $62.50 $170.6K 29.7K 1.7K 22C CALL SWEEP BEARISH 02/18/ $62.50 $73.4K 6.2K 255 22C CALL TRADE BULLISH 03/18/ $60.00 $69.0K 7.9K 844 22C CALL TRADE BEARISH 03/18/ $60.00 $66.0K 7.9K 226 22

Where Is Citigroup Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 13,610,712, the price of C is up 4.86% at $63.33.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 11 days.

What The Experts Say On Citigroup:

* Morgan Stanley downgraded its action to Equal-Weight with a price target of $82

* Barclays has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Citigroup, which currently sits at a price target of $73.

* Credit Suisse has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Citigroup, which currently sits at a price target of $76.

* Odeon Capital upgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $69

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.