Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Vale VALE.

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 VALE, 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 18 uncommon options trades for Vale.

This isn’t normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 55% bullish and 22%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 2 are puts, for a total amount of $534,303, and 16 are calls, for a total amount of $1,541,550.

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 $1.0 to $12.0 for Vale over the last 3 months.

Analyzing 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 Vale’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 Vale’s whale activity within a strike price range from $1.0 to $12.0 in the last 30 days.

Vale Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Largest Options Trades Observed:

About Vale

Vale is a large global miner and the world’s largest producer of iron ore and pellets. In recent years the company has sold noncore assets such as its fertilizer, coal, and steel operations to concentrate on iron ore, nickel, and copper. Earnings are dominated by the bulk materials division, primarily iron ore and iron ore pellets. The base metals division is much smaller, consisting of nickel mines and smelters along with copper mines producing copper in concentrate. In 2024, Vale sold a minority 10% stake in energy transition metals, its base metals business, likely the first step in separating base metals and iron ore.

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

Present Market Standing of Vale

• With a volume of 16,007,543, the price of VALE is up 2.5% at $10.05.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 94 days.

What The Experts Say On Vale

In the last month, 1 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $11.5.

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 UBS downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $11.

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