Decoding Alphabet's Options Activity: What's the Big Picture?

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Alphabet GOOGL.

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 GOOGL, 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 116 uncommon options trades for Alphabet.

This isn’t normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 40% bullish and 45%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 41 are puts, for a total amount of $5,031,275, and 75 are calls, for a total amount of $6,625,296.

Projected Price Targets

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it’s evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $50.0 and $265.0 for Alphabet, spanning the last three months.

Insights into Volume & Open Interest

Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Alphabet’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 Alphabet’s whale trades within a strike price range from $50.0 to $265.0 in the last 30 days.

Alphabet 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Biggest Options Spotted:

About Alphabet

Alphabet is a holding company that wholly owns internet giant Google. The California-based company derives slightly less than 90% of its revenue from Google services, the vast majority of which is advertising sales. Alongside online ads, Google services houses sales stemming from Google’s subscription services (YouTube TV, YouTube Music among others), platforms (sales and in-app purchases on Play Store), and devices (Chromebooks, Pixel smartphones, and smart home products such as Chromecast). Google’s cloud computing platform, or GCP, accounts for roughly 10% of Alphabet’s revenue with the firm’s investments in up-and-coming technologies such as self-driving cars (Waymo), health (Verily), and internet access (Google Fiber) making up the rest.

Having examined the options trading patterns of Alphabet, our attention now turns directly to the company. This shift allows us to delve into its present market position and performance

Where Is Alphabet Standing Right Now?

• With a volume of 18,093,471, the price of GOOGL is up 1.64% at $157.18.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 23 days.

What Analysts Are Saying About Alphabet

Over the past month, 5 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $198.4.

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* An analyst from Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Alphabet, which currently sits at a price target of $167.
* An analyst from Rosenblatt persists with their Neutral rating on Alphabet, maintaining a target price of $205.
* Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Cantor Fitzgerald lowers its rating to Neutral with a new price target of $200.
* Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Jefferies continues to hold a Buy rating for Alphabet, targeting a price of $200.
* Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Roth MKM continues to hold a Buy rating for Alphabet, targeting a price of $220.

Options trading presents higher risks and potential rewards. Astute traders manage these risks by continually educating themselves, adapting their strategies, monitoring multiple indicators, and keeping a close eye on market movements. Stay informed about the latest Alphabet options trades with real-time alerts from Benzinga Pro.