Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Applied Mat (NASDAQ:AMAT).

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 AMAT, 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 11 uncommon options trades for Applied Mat.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 27% bullish and 54%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $508,152, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $176,380.

Predicted Price Range

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $170.0 to $250.0 for Applied Mat during the past quarter.

Analyzing Volume & Open Interest

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Applied Mat options trades today is 852.0 with a total volume of 505.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Applied Mat's big money trades within a strike price range of $170.0 to $250.0 over the last 30 days.

Applied Mat Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About Applied Mat

Applied Materials is the largest semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment, or WFE, manufacturer in the world. Applied Materials has a broad portfolio spanning nearly every corner of the WFE ecosystem. Specifically, Applied Materials holds a market share leadership position in deposition, which entails the layering of new materials on semiconductor wafers. It is more exposed to general-purpose logic chips made at integrated device manufacturers and foundries. It counts the largest chipmakers in the world as customers, including TSMC, Intel, and Samsung.

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

Current Position of Applied Mat

• Trading volume stands at 1,882,117, with AMAT's price down by -0.54%, positioned at $242.0.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be may be approaching overbought.
• Earnings announcement expected in 41 days.

Expert Opinions on Applied Mat

2 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $290.0.

• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from B. Riley Securities keeps a Buy rating on Applied Mat with a target price of $300.
• An analyst from Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Applied Mat, which currently sits at a price target of $280.

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.