Microsoft Options Trading: A Deep Dive into Market Sentiment

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Microsoft MSFT.

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 MSFT, 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 36 uncommon options trades for Microsoft.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 41% bullish and 33%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 8 are puts, for a total amount of $588,079, and 28 are calls, for a total amount of $1,467,132.

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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 $390.0 to $540.0 for Microsoft during the past quarter.

Insights into 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 $390.0 to $540.0 in the last 30 days.

Microsoft 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Largest Options Trades Observed:

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).

In light of the recent options history for Microsoft, it's now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance.

Present Market Standing of Microsoft

• With a volume of 3,319,278, the price of MSFT is up 0.63% at $466.81.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be overbought.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 54 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Microsoft

Over the past month, 4 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $532.5.

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20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access. * An analyst from Evercore ISI Group persists with their Outperform rating on Microsoft, maintaining a target price of $515. * In a cautious move, an analyst from RBC Capital downgraded its rating to Outperform, setting a price target of $525. * Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Citigroup continues to hold a Buy rating for Microsoft, targeting a price of $540. * Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Goldman Sachs continues to hold a Buy rating for Microsoft, targeting a price of $550.

Trading options involves greater risks but also offers the potential for higher profits. Savvy traders mitigate these risks through ongoing education, strategic trade adjustments, utilizing various indicators, and staying attuned to market dynamics. Keep up with the latest options trades for Microsoft with Benzinga Pro for real-time alerts.