Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO).
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 MRO, 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 15 uncommon options trades for Marathon Oil.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 46% bullish and 53%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $57,552, and 13 are calls, for a total amount of $894,910.
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 $19.0 to $35.0 for Marathon Oil 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 Marathon Oil'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 Marathon Oil's whale activity within a strike price range from $19.0 to $35.0 in the last 30 days.
Marathon Oil Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days
Biggest Options Spotted:
| Symbol | PUT/CALL | Trade Type | Sentiment | Exp. Date | Strike Price | Total Trade Price | Open Interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRO | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 04/22/22 | $27.00 | $169.5K | 2.0K | 4.3K |
| MRO | CALL | SWEEP | BEARISH | 07/15/22 | $19.00 | $166.0K | 786 | 200 |
| MRO | CALL | TRADE | NEUTRAL | 07/15/22 | $26.00 | $96.0K | 21.7K | 611 |
| MRO | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 07/15/22 | $26.00 | $72.0K | 21.7K | 1.5K |
| MRO | CALL | TRADE | NEUTRAL | 01/20/23 | $35.00 | $57.3K | 841 | 262 |
Where Is Marathon Oil Standing Right Now?
- With a volume of 11,606,084, the price of MRO is up 2.78% at $27.52.
- 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 Marathon Oil:
- Mizuho has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Marathon Oil, which currently sits at a price target of $35.
- RBC Capital has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Marathon Oil, which currently sits at a price target of $30.
- Barclays has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Marathon Oil, which currently sits at a price target of $30.
- Truist Securities has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Marathon Oil, which currently sits at a price target of $34.
- Piper Sandler has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Marathon Oil, which currently sits at a price target of $37.
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.
