Aetna has rallied to multi-year highs, and one investor doesn't want to let the gains slip away.
optionMONSTER's Depth Charge monitoring program detected the purchase of about 23,000 April 50 puts for $0.87 and the sale of a matching number of April 47 puts for $0.24. Volume was below open interest in the 47s, indicating that an existing position was closed and rolled to the higher strike.
It cost $0.63 to make this adjustment. The investor probably owns shares in the health insurer and has now raised by $3 the level of downside protection, reflecting the gains in the stock price. (See our Education section for more on how options can be used to hedge portfolio positions.)
AET is down 0.56 percent to $51.17 in midday trading but is up more than 30 percent in the last six months. The stock briefly traded over $51.50 earlier in the session, a price it hadn't seen since early 2008.
Total option volume is 11 times greater than average so far today, according to the Depth Charge. Puts outnumber calls by a bearish 70-to-1 ratio.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
