Senseonics Shorts Get Squeezed Again And Options Traders Bet Big

Senseonics Holdings SENS, a Maryland-based medical device startup, has been earmarked by Reddit traders and institutions alike for the large amount of short interest on its stock. Of its 317.27 million share float, about 76.95 million, or 18.56%, are held in short position as of May 28.

Last Frida,  Senseonics closed up 40% over the previous day and marked the first day of the short squeeze before consolidating. On Thursday, it looks as though the squeeze is back on, however, and the stock rallied 22% before, once again, moving into short-timeframe consolidation.

Options traders weren’t concerned Thursday’s bullish action marked a top for the stock and hammered call contacts totaling over $394,435.

Why It’s Important: When a sweep order occurs, it indicates the trader wanted to get into a position quickly and is anticipating an imminent large move in stock price. A sweeper pays market price for the call option instead of placing a bid, which sweeps the order book of multiple exchanges to fill the order immediately.

These types of call option orders are usually made by institutions, and retail investors can find watching for sweepers useful because it indicates “smart money” has entered into a position.

The Senseonics Option Trades: Below is a look at the notable options alerts, courtesy of Benzinga Pro:

• At 9:54 a.m., Thursday a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 200 Senseonics options with a strike price of $2.50 expiring on Jan. 21, 2023. The trade represented a $38,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.90 per option contract.
• At 12:34 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 750 Senseonics options with a strike price of $4 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $26,250 bullish bet for which the trader paid 35 cents per option contract.
• At 12:34 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 2331 Senseonics options with a strike price of $4 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $81,585 bullish bet for which the trader paid 35 cents per option contract.
• At 12:34 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 1000 Senseonics options with a strike price of $4 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $40,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid 40 cents per option contract.
• At 12:38 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 718 Senseonics options with a strike price of $4 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $28,720 bullish bet for which the trader paid 40 cents per option contract.
• At 12:39 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 1111 Senseonics options with a strike price of $3.50 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $61,105 bullish bet for which the trader paid 55 cents per option contract.
• At 12:42 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, at the ask, of 200 Senseonics options with a strike price of $4 expiring on Jan 21, 2022. The trade represented a $35,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.75 per option contract.
• At 12:43 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 1000 Senseonics options with a strike price of $4 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $50,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid 50 cents per option contract.
• At 1:01 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 245 Senseonics options with a strike price of $4 expiring on Oct. 15. The trade represented a $33,075 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.35 per option contract.
• At 3:11 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 258 Senseonics options with a strike price of $5 expiring on January 21, 2022. The trade represented a $38,700 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.50 per option contract.

SENS Price Action: Shares of Senseonics were trading up 18.8% to $3.65