Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on McDonald's (NYSE:MCD).
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 MCD, 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 McDonald's.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 33% bullish and 66%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 5 are puts, for a total amount of $230,295, and 7 are calls, for a total amount of $612,201.
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 $240.0 to $320.0 for McDonald's 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 McDonald's'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 McDonald's's whale activity within a strike price range from $240.0 to $320.0 in the last 30 days.
McDonald's 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCD | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 02/18/22 | $260.00 | $181.0K | 3.6K | 1.0K |
| MCD | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 01/20/23 | $240.00 | $137.5K | 2.1K | 63 |
| MCD | CALL | SWEEP | NEUTRAL | 01/20/23 | $250.00 | $89.7K | 1.3K | 46 |
| MCD | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 01/20/23 | $240.00 | $81.1K | 2.1K | 89 |
| MCD | PUT | TRADE | BEARISH | 01/20/23 | $320.00 | $67.0K | 28 | 10 |
Where Is McDonald's Standing Right Now?
- With a volume of 1,297,326, the price of MCD is down -1.06% at $257.12.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 77 days.
What The Experts Say On McDonald's:
- Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on McDonald's, which currently sits at a price target of $294.
- Keybanc has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on McDonald's, which currently sits at a price target of $285.
- Barclays has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on McDonald's, which currently sits at a price target of $305.
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.
