Benzinga | Jan 21, 2022 10:11AM EST

What Are Whales Doing With Tesla

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).

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 TSLA, 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 316 uncommon options trades for Tesla.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 36% bullish and 63%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 238 are puts, for a total amount of $19,136,271, and 78 are calls, for a total amount of $8,436,438.

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 $600.0 to $2000.0 for Tesla 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 Tesla'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 Tesla's whale trades within a strike price range from $600.0 to $2000.0 in the last 30 days.

Tesla 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 InterestTSLA PUT SWEEP BEARISH 06/17/ $900.00 $3.3M 4.9K 432 22TSLA CALL SWEEP BEARISH 01/19/ $1100.00 $725.1K 13.2K 760 24TSLA PUT SWEEP BULLISH 01/21/ $1000.00 $504.5K 24.0K 7.0K 22TSLA PUT SWEEP NEUTRAL 01/28/ $1070.00 $433.0K 4.2K 103 22TSLA PUT SWEEP NEUTRAL 01/21/ $1070.00 $384.9K 2.9K 125 22

Where Is Tesla Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 3,767,492, the price of TSLA is down -1.87% at $977.66.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 5 days.

What The Experts Say On Tesla:

* JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Underweight rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $295.

* Credit Suisse has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $1025.

* Mizuho has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $1300.

* Deutsche Bank has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $1200.

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

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.