Looking At Applied Mat's Recent Unusual Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Applied Mat AMAT.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don’t know. But when something this big happens with AMAT, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga‘s options scanner spotted 12 uncommon options trades for Applied Mat.

This isn’t normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 75% bullish and 8%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $134,622, and 8 are calls, for a total amount of $576,675.

Projected Price Targets

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $125.0 to $200.0 for Applied Mat during the past quarter.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Applied Mat options trades today is 676.25 with a total volume of 1,539.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Applied Mat’s big money trades within a strike price range of $125.0 to $200.0 over the last 30 days.

Applied Mat Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Biggest Options Spotted:

About Applied Mat

Applied Materials Inc is the largest semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment, or WFE, manufacturer in the world. Applied Materials has a broad portfolio spanning nearly every corner of the WFE ecosystem. Specifically, Applied Materials holds a market share leadership position in deposition, which entails the layering of new materials on semiconductor wafers. It is more exposed to general-purpose logic chips made at integrated device manufacturers and foundries. It counts the largest chipmakers in the world as customers, including TSMC, Intel, and Samsung.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with Applied Mat, we pivot to a closer look at the company’s own performance.

Applied Mat’s Current Market Status

• Trading volume stands at 1,188,008, with AMAT’s price down by -2.52%, positioned at $134.0.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Earnings announcement expected in 24 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Applied Mat

A total of 4 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $187.5.

Unusual Options Activity Detected: Smart Money on the Move

Benzinga Edge’s Unusual Options board spots potential market movers before they happen. See what positions big money is taking on your favorite stocks. Click here for access.
* An analyst from Jefferies upgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $195.
* An analyst from Stifel persists with their Buy rating on Applied Mat, maintaining a target price of $195.
* An analyst from Citigroup has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Applied Mat, which currently sits at a price target of $170.
* An analyst from B of A Securities persists with their Buy rating on Applied Mat, maintaining a target price of $190.

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 Applied Mat, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.