Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Hess (NYSE:HES).

And retail traders should know.

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

Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual, we don't know. But when something this big happens with HES, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 12 options trades for Hess.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 25% bullish and 75%, bearish.

Out of all of the options we uncovered, 11 are puts, for a total amount of $1,221,490, and there was 1 call, for a total amount of $27,909.

What's The Price Target?

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $140.0 to $160.0 for Hess over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Hess options trades today is 511.71 with a total volume of 3,367.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Hess's big money trades within a strike price range of $140.0 to $160.0 over the last 30 days.

Hess Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

Where Is Hess Standing Right Now?

• With a volume of 1,176,975, the price of HES is down -1.04% at $147.95.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 21 days.

What The Experts Say On Hess:

• Mizuho has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on Hess, which currently sits at a price target of $178.
• UBS has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Hess, which currently sits at a price target of $210.
• Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Hess, which currently sits at a price target of $166.

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