What the Options Market Tells Us About Microsoft - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial giants have made a conspicuous bearish move on Microsoft. Our analysis of options history for Microsoft MSFT revealed 15 unusual trades.

Delving into the details, we found 40% of traders were bullish, while 46% showed bearish tendencies. Out of all the trades we spotted, 5 were puts, with a value of $182,765, and 10 were calls, valued at $421,060.

Predicted Price Range

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $300.0 to $420.0 for Microsoft during the past quarter.

Analyzing Volume & Open Interest

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 Microsoft'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 Microsoft's whale activity within a strike price range from $300.0 to $420.0 in the last 30 days.

Microsoft 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Biggest Options Spotted:

Symbol	PUT/CALL	Trade Type	Sentiment	Exp. Date	Ask	Bid	Price	Strike Price	Total Trade Price	Open Interest	Volume
MSFT	CALL	SWEEP	BULLISH	12/18/26	$118.7	$116.7	$118.7	$350.00	$118.7K	2.4K	0
MSFT	PUT	SWEEP	BEARISH	07/19/24	$11.85	$11.65	$11.7	$405.00	$71.3K	2.5K	72
MSFT	CALL	TRADE	BULLISH	10/18/24	$22.85	$22.45	$22.7	$420.00	$45.4K	447	4
MSFT	CALL	SWEEP	BULLISH	05/10/24	$14.2	$13.9	$14.0	$395.00	$42.0K	2.2K	96
MSFT	CALL	TRADE	NEUTRAL	12/20/24	$41.8	$41.2	$41.5	$400.00	$41.5K	1.4K	10

About Microsoft

Microsoft develops and licenses consumer and enterprise software. It is known for its Windows operating systems and Office productivity suite. The company is organized into three equally sized broad segments: productivity and business processes (legacy Microsoft Office, cloud-based Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Skype, LinkedIn, Dynamics), intelligence cloud (infrastructure- and platform-as-a-service offerings Azure, Windows Server OS, SQL Server), and more personal computing (Windows Client, Xbox, Bing search, display advertising, and Surface laptops, tablets, and desktops).

After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding Microsoft, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.

Present Market Standing of Microsoft

With a trading volume of 2,173,976, the price of MSFT is up by 0.51%, reaching $408.74.
Current RSI values indicate that the stock is is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
Next earnings report is scheduled for 78 days from now.

What Analysts Are Saying About Microsoft

5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $481.0.

Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Wells Fargo continues to hold a Overweight rating for Microsoft, targeting a price of $500.
An analyst from Wedbush downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of $500.
Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from BMO Capital keeps a Outperform rating on Microsoft with a target price of $465.
Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Piper Sandler lowers its rating to Overweight with a new price target of $465.
An analyst from Stifel has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Microsoft, which currently sits at a price target of $475.

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 Microsoft options trades with real-time alerts from Benzinga Pro.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs