Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on IBM (NYSE:IBM).

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 IBM, 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 8 uncommon options trades for IBM.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 25% bullish and 50%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 3 are puts, for a total amount of $849,575, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $460,250.

Expected Price Movements

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $100.0 and $200.0 for IBM, spanning the last three months.

Analyzing Volume & Open Interest

Examining the volume and open interest provides crucial insights into stock research. This information is key in gauging liquidity and interest levels for IBM's options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across IBM's significant trades, within a strike price range of $100.0 to $200.0, over the past month.

IBM Option Activity Analysis: Last 30 Days

Largest Options Trades Observed:

About IBM

IBM looks to be a part of every aspect of an enterprise's IT needs. The company primarily sells software, IT services, consulting, and hardware. IBM operates in 175 countries and employs approximately 350,000 people. The company has a robust roster of 80,000 business partners to service 5,200 clients—which includes 95% of all Fortune 500. While IBM is a B2B company, IBM's outward impact is substantial. For example, IBM manages 90% of all credit card transactions globally and is responsible for 50% of all wireless connections in the world.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with IBM, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

Present Market Standing of IBM

• Trading volume stands at 798,600, with IBM's price up by 0.18%, positioned at $172.18.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be may be approaching overbought.
• Earnings announcement expected in 20 days.

Expert Opinions on IBM

A total of 1 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $200.0.

• An analyst from Goldman Sachs has revised its rating downward to Buy, adjusting the price target to $200.

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.