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Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Arista Networks ANET.

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 ANET, 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 30 uncommon options trades for Arista Networks.

This isn’t normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 33% bullish and 30%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 9 are puts, for a total amount of $342,871, and 21 are calls, for a total amount of $1,005,778.

What’s The Price Target?

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $260.0 to $460.0 for Arista Networks over the recent three months.

Insights into Volume & Open Interest

Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Arista Networks’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 Arista Networks’s whale trades within a strike price range from $260.0 to $460.0 in the last 30 days.

Arista Networks Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks is a networking equipment provider that primarily sells Ethernet switches and software to data centers. Its marquee product is its extensible operating system, or EOS, that runs a single image across every single one of its devices. The firm operates as one reportable segment. It has steadily gained market share since its founding in 2004, with a focus on high-speed applications. Arista counts Microsoft and Meta Platforms as its largest customers and derives roughly three quarters of its sales from North America.

In light of the recent options history for Arista Networks, it’s now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance.

Arista Networks’s Current Market Status

• With a volume of 2,357,777, the price of ANET is up 1.84% at $377.3.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 83 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Arista Networks

Over the past month, 5 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $424.2.

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20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access.
* Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Barclays keeps a Overweight rating on Arista Networks with a target price of $495.
* An analyst from Wells Fargo persists with their Overweight rating on Arista Networks, maintaining a target price of $460.
* An analyst from UBS persists with their Neutral rating on Arista Networks, maintaining a target price of $425.
* An analyst from Piper Sandler has revised its rating downward to Neutral, adjusting the price target to $421.
* Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Rosenblatt continues to hold a Sell rating for Arista Networks, targeting a price of $320.

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

To gain an edge, this is what you need to know today.

New Russian Nuclear Doctrine

Please click here for an enlarged chart of Walmart Inc WMT.

Note the following:

• This article is about the big picture, not an individual stock.  The chart of WMT is being used to illustrate the point.
• The U.S. economy is 70% consumer based.  Walmart is the largest retailer in the U.S.  For this reason, prudent investors pay attention to Walmart’s earnings.
• The chart shows WMT stock gapped up after earnings.
• The chart shows that WMT stock also gapped up on earnings in the prior two quarters.
• Walmart reported earnings better than the whisper numbers.  Stocks move based on the difference between reported numbers and whisper numbers.  Whisper numbers are the number analysts privately share with their best clients.  Whisper numbers are different from the numbers the same analysts publish for public consumption.
• In The Arora Report analysis, the following are the most important points from Walmart earnings:
  • Higher end consumers continue to shift to Walmart.
  • E-commerce at Walmart, especially quick delivery, is growing rapidly.
  • Margins are expanding.
  • Walmart is gaining market share.
• In The Arora Report analysis, as good as Walmart is doing, investors need to be mindful of the very high valuation for a retailer.  Walmart is trading at a trailing PE of 43.  However, as Walmart’s earnings are growing, forward PE is 30, which is still expensive for a retailer.
• As full disclosure, Walmart is in The Arora Report’s ZYX Buy Core Model Portfolio from an average price of $19.25. 
• Prudent investors also watch earnings from home improvement retailer Lowe’s Companies Inc LOW.  Lowe’s earnings are a reflection of the consumer, especially remodeling of existing homes.  Lowe’s earnings are slightly below whisper numbers.   As full disclosure, LOW is also in The Arora Report’s ZYX Buy Core Model Portfolio and is long from an average of $81.85.
• In the early trade, markets are responding to the new Russian doctrine.
  • Stocks are being sold.
  • Gold and silver are being bought.
  • Oil is being bought.
  • The dollar is being bought.
  • The yen is being bought.
• The new Russian doctrine brings the world closer to World War III.  The new doctrine is in response to the U.S. allowing Ukraine to fire U.S. manufactured long range missiles on targets inside Russia.
• Prudent investors should note the following three elements of the new Russian doctrine.
  • An attack on Russia by any country supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on Russia.
  • A massive aerial attack could trigger a nuclear response from Russia. 
  • In reference to NATO, an aggression by a member of the coalition will be viewed as aggression by the entire bloc.  
• In The Arora Report analysis, the new Russian doctrine is squarely directed at the U.S.  The purpose appears to be to persuade Trump to stop supporting Ukraine and force Ukraine to cede territory in Eastern Ukraine to Russia.  Further, in The Arora Report analysis, the ultimate solution is likely going to be the U.S. forcing Ukraine to give Eastern Ukraine to Russia as per Russian wishes.  This has been a long standing Arora call.
• For the first time ever, Ukraine has attacked a warehouse inside Russia using long range missiles manufactured by the U.S.   The missile attack was conducted with Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).  The missiles are manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp LMT, a major U.S. defense contractor.  The targeted warehouse housed ammunition and missiles from North Korea.  North Korea is promising 100K troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
• There is no change in the protection band at this time, but we are keeping a close eye on the situation.

Housing

New housing is beginning to weaken.  Here is the just released data:

• Housing starts came at 1.311M vs. 1.34M consensus.
• Building permits came at 1.416M vs. 1.441M consensus.

Magnificent Seven Money Flows

In the early trade, money flows are positive in NVIDIA Corp NVDA.

In the early trade, money flows are negative in Apple Inc AAPL, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Alphabet Inc Class C GOOG, Meta Platforms Inc META, Microsoft Corp MSFT, and Tesla Inc TSLA.

In the early trade, money flows are negative in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 QQQ.

Momo Crowd And Smart Money In Stocks

Investors can gain an edge by knowing money flows in SPY and QQQ.  Investors can get a bigger edge by knowing when smart money is buying stocks, gold, and oil.  The most popular ETF for gold is SPDR Gold Trust GLD.  The most popular ETF for silver is iShares Silver Trust SLV.  The most popular ETF for oil is United States Oil ETF USO.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin BTC/USD is range bound.

Protection Band And What To Do Now

It is important for investors to look ahead and not in the rearview mirror.  The proprietary protection band from The Arora Report is very popular.  The protection band puts all of the data, all of the indicators, all of the news, all of the crosscurrents, all of the models, and all of the analysis in an analytical framework that is easily actionable by investors.

Consider continuing to hold good, very long term, existing positions. Based on individual risk preference, consider a protection band consisting of cash or Treasury bills or short-term tactical trades as well as short to medium term hedges and short term hedges. This is a good way to protect yourself and participate in the upside at the same time.

You can determine your protection bands by adding cash to hedges.  The high band of the protection is appropriate for those who are older or conservative. The low band of the protection is appropriate for those who are younger or aggressive.  If you do not hedge, the total cash level should be more than stated above but significantly less than cash plus hedges.

A protection band of 0% would be very bullish and would indicate full investment with 0% in cash.  A protection band of 100% would be very bearish and would indicate a need for aggressive protection with cash and hedges or aggressive short selling.

It is worth reminding that you cannot take advantage of new upcoming opportunities if you are not holding enough cash.  When adjusting hedge levels, consider adjusting partial stop quantities for stock positions (non ETF); consider using wider stops on remaining quantities and also allowing more room for high beta stocks.  High beta stocks are the ones that move more than the market.

Traditional 60/40 Portfolio

Probability based risk reward adjusted for inflation does not favor long duration strategic bond allocation at this time.

Those who want to stick to traditional 60% allocation to stocks and 40% to bonds may consider focusing on only high quality bonds and bonds of five year duration or less.  Those willing to bring sophistication to their investing may consider using bond ETFs as tactical positions and not strategic positions at this time.

The Arora Report is known for its accurate calls. The Arora Report correctly called the big artificial intelligence rally before anyone else, the new bull market of 2023, the bear market of 2022, new stock market highs right after the virus low in 2020, the virus drop in 2020, the DJIA rally to 30,000 when it was trading at 16,000, the start of a mega bull market in 2009, and the financial crash of 2008. Please click here to sign up for a free forever Generate Wealth Newsletter.

Financial giants have made a conspicuous bearish move on Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. Our analysis of options history for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals ALNY revealed 11 unusual trades.

Delving into the details, we found 27% of traders were bullish, while 45% showed bearish tendencies. Out of all the trades we spotted, 9 were puts, with a value of $515,770, and 2 were calls, valued at $88,650.

Projected Price Targets

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $210.0 to $290.0 for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals during the past quarter.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Examining the volume and open interest provides crucial insights into stock research. This information is key in gauging liquidity and interest levels for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’s options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’s significant trades, within a strike price range of $210.0 to $290.0, over the past month.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is a leader in the study of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics. RNAi is a naturally occurring biological pathway within cells for sequence-specific silencing and regulation of gene expression. Alnylam has five drugs on the market: Onpattro and Amvuttra for hATTR amyloidosis, Givlaari for acute hepatic porphyria, Oxlumo for primary hyperoxaluria type 1, and Leqvio for hypercholesterolemia. It also has several clinical programs across various therapeutic areas: genetic medicines; cardio-metabolic diseases; hepatic infectious diseases, and CNS/ocular diseases. Upfront fees from research partnerships have boosted Alnylam’s cash levels, and the company stands to see additional milestones and royalties from drugs commercialized under collaboration partnerships.

In light of the recent options history for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, it’s now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’s Current Market Status

• With a volume of 446,657, the price of ALNY is up 0.74% at $233.99.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 86 days.

What Analysts Are Saying About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

A total of 5 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $350.2.

Turn $1000 into $1270 in just 20 days?

20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access.
* Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Canaccord Genuity continues to hold a Buy rating for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, targeting a price of $384.
* An analyst from Piper Sandler downgraded its action to Overweight with a price target of $296.
* An analyst from HC Wainwright & Co. downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $400.
* An analyst from RBC Capital has revised its rating downward to Outperform, adjusting the price target to $300.
* An analyst from TD Cowen persists with their Buy rating on Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, maintaining a target price of $371.

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

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on CVS Health CVS.

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 CVS, 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 13 uncommon options trades for CVS Health.

This isn’t normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 38% bullish and 61%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 7 are puts, for a total amount of $668,128, and 6 are calls, for a total amount of $310,421.

Predicted Price Range

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $50.0 to $80.0 for CVS Health over the recent three months.

Analyzing Volume & Open Interest

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for CVS Health options trades today is 1767.3 with a total volume of 21,448.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for CVS Health’s big money trades within a strike price range of $50.0 to $80.0 over the last 30 days.

CVS Health Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About CVS Health

CVS Health offers a diverse set of healthcare services. Its roots are in its retail pharmacy operations, where it operates over 9,000 stores primarily in the us. CVS is also a large pharmacy benefit manager (acquired through Caremark), processing about 2 billion adjusted claims annually. It also operates a top-tier health insurer (acquired through Aetna) where it serves about 26 million medical members. The company’s recent acquisition of Oak Street adds primary care services to the mix, which could have significant synergies with all its existing business lines.

CVS Health’s Current Market Status

• With a trading volume of 6,498,681, the price of CVS is down by -0.72%, reaching $55.65.
• Current RSI values indicate that the stock is is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings report is scheduled for 78 days from now.

Expert Opinions on CVS Health

In the last month, 5 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $65.0.

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 Mizuho has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on CVS Health, which currently sits at a price target of $66.
* Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Wells Fargo continues to hold a Equal-Weight rating for CVS Health, targeting a price of $60.
* An analyst from UBS persists with their Neutral rating on CVS Health, maintaining a target price of $62.
* An analyst from Barclays persists with their Overweight rating on CVS Health, maintaining a target price of $71.
* In a positive move, an analyst from Wells Fargo has upgraded their rating to Overweight and adjusted the price target to $66.

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