Benzinga | Jan 12, 2022 11:42AM EST

Check Out What Whales Are Doing With LLY

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY).

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 LLY, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what this whale just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 12 uncommon options trades for Eli Lilly.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 25% bullish and 75%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 7 are puts, for a total amount of $762,832, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $299,720.

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 $180.0 to $260.0 for Eli Lilly 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 Eli Lilly'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 Eli Lilly's whale trades within a strike price range from $180.0 to $260.0 in the last 30 days.

Eli Lilly 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 InterestLLY PUT SWEEP BULLISH 01/20/ $220.00 $433.5K 679 295 23LLY PUT TRADE NEUTRAL 02/11/ $235.00 $133.1K 181 511 22LLY CALL TRADE BEARISH 01/20/ $180.00 $80.6K 544 10 23LLY CALL TRADE BEARISH 04/14/ $230.00 $76.5K 322 25 22LLY CALL SWEEP BEARISH 01/20/ $260.00 $69.1K 518 57 23

Where Is Eli Lilly Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 2,936,863, the price of LLY is down -4.3% at $251.05.

* RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 22 days.

What The Experts Say On Eli Lilly:

* Berenberg has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Eli Lilly, which currently sits at a price target of $305.

* Barclays has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Eli Lilly, which currently sits at a price target of $325.

* Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Eli Lilly, which currently sits at a price target of $280.

* Goldman Sachs downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $236

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.