AT&T's Options Frenzy: What You Need to Know

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on AT&T T.

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 T, 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 16 uncommon options trades for AT&T.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 50% bullish and 31%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $251,874, and 14 are calls, for a total amount of $509,187.

Expected Price Movements

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $15.0 to $40.0 for AT&T over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

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 AT&T'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 AT&T's whale activity within a strike price range from $15.0 to $40.0 in the last 30 days.

AT&T Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About AT&T

The wireless business contributes nearly 70% of AT&T's revenue. The company is the third-largest US wireless carrier, connecting 73 million postpaid and 17 million prepaid phone customers. Fixed-line enterprise services, which account for about 14% of revenue, include internet access, private networking, security, voice, and wholesale network capacity. Residential fixed-line services, about 12% of revenue, primarily consist of broadband internet access, serving 14 million customers. AT&T also has a sizable presence in Mexico, with 24 million customers, but this business only accounts for 3% of revenue. The company recently sold its 70% equity stake in satellite television provider DirecTV to its partner, private equity firm TPG.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with AT&T, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

AT&T's Current Market Status

• With a trading volume of 12,814,746, the price of T is down by -0.08%, reaching $29.56.
• Current RSI values indicate that the stock is may be approaching overbought.
• Next earnings report is scheduled for 47 days from now.

Professional Analyst Ratings for AT&T

Over the past month, 2 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $32.0.

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 Goldman Sachs has revised its rating downward to Buy, adjusting the price target to $32. * An analyst from Bernstein persists with their Outperform rating on AT&T, maintaining a target price of $32.

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 AT&T, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.