Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK).
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 MRK, 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 13 uncommon options trades for Merck & Co.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 30% bullish and 69%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $329,112, and 7 are calls, for a total amount of $289,438.
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 $77.5 to $100.0 for Merck & Co over the last 3 months.
Volume & Open Interest Development
In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Merck & Co options trades today is 4351.73 with a total volume of 3,461.00.
In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Merck & Co's big money trades within a strike price range of $77.5 to $100.0 over the last 30 days.
Merck & Co 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRK | PUT | SWEEP | NEUTRAL | 06/17/22 | $90.00 | $98.2K | 4.1K | 658 |
| MRK | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 01/19/24 | $85.00 | $74.8K | 800 | 50 |
| MRK | PUT | SWEEP | NEUTRAL | 06/17/22 | $90.00 | $69.5K | 4.1K | 1.1K |
| MRK | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 06/16/23 | $87.50 | $53.1K | 67 | 45 |
| MRK | PUT | TRADE | BULLISH | 01/20/23 | $85.00 | $49.2K | 3.7K | 112 |
Where Is Merck & Co Standing Right Now?
- With a volume of 3,669,043, the price of MRK is down -0.8% at $92.25.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 71 days.
What The Experts Say On Merck & Co:
- Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Merck & Co, which currently sits at a price target of $105.
- SVB Leerink has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Merck & Co, which currently sits at a price target of $102.
- SVB Leerink has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Merck & Co, which currently sits at a price target of $97.
- Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Merck & Co, which currently sits at a price target of $87.
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 want to stay updated on the latest options trades for {d[company_name]}, Benzinga Progives you real-time options trades alerts.
