Benzinga | Jan 12, 2022 11:42AM EST

What Are Whales Doing With Tesla

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

Looking at options history for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) we detected 1000 strange trades.

If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 42% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 57% with bearish.

From the overall spotted trades, 158 are puts, for a total amount of $9,753,583 and 842, calls, for a total amount of $55,714,389.

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 $356.0 to $2000.0 for Tesla 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 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 activity within a strike price range from $356.0 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 CALL SWEEP BEARISH 01/14/ $1010.00 $1.5M 1.2K 955 22TSLA CALL SWEEP BEARISH 01/14/ $1070.00 $374.8K 2.6K 5.6K 22TSLA PUT TRADE BULLISH 01/21/ $1050.00 $173.2K 7.1K 5.4K 22TSLA PUT SWEEP BEARISH 01/14/ $1080.00 $165.6K 1.4K 14.1K 22TSLA CALL TRADE BEARISH 01/14/ $1100.00 $80.7K 12.4K 70.5K 22

Where Is Tesla Standing Right Now?

* With a volume of 12,401,211, the price of TSLA is up 2.09% at $1086.6.

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

* Next earnings are expected to be released in 14 days.

What The Experts Say On Tesla:

* Argus Research has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $1313.

* RBC Capital has decided to maintain their Sector Perform rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $1005.

* 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.

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

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.