Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC).

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 MPC, 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 10 uncommon options trades for Marathon Petroleum.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 30% bullish and 70%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 5 are puts, for a total amount of $729,768, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $623,411.

Expected Price Movements

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $145.0 to $165.0 for Marathon Petroleum during the past quarter.

Volume & Open Interest Development

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 Marathon Petroleum'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 Marathon Petroleum's whale activity within a strike price range from $145.0 to $165.0 in the last 30 days.

Marathon Petroleum Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About Marathon Petroleum

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

Present Market Standing of Marathon Petroleum

• With a volume of 1,324,964, the price of MPC is up 0.46% at $153.55.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 19 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Marathon Petroleum

1 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $169.0.

• An analyst from Wells Fargo has elevated its stance to Overweight, setting a new price target at $169.

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