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

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 CAT, 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 Caterpillar.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 36% bullish and 63%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $332,513, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $379,525.

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 $300.0 to $360.0 for Caterpillar over the last 3 months.

Analyzing 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 Caterpillar'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 Caterpillar's whale trades within a strike price range from $300.0 to $360.0 in the last 30 days.

Caterpillar Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar is the top manufacturer of heavy equipment, power solutions, and locomotives. It is currently the world's largest manufacturer of heavy equipment. The company is divided into four reportable segments: construction industries, resource industries, energy and transportation, and Cat Financial. Its products are available through a dealer network that covers the globe with about 2,700 branches maintained by 160 dealers. Cat Financial provides retail financing for machinery and engines to its customers, in addition to wholesale financing for dealers, which increases the likelihood of Caterpillar product sales.

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

Where Is Caterpillar Standing Right Now?

• Currently trading with a volume of 563,081, the CAT's price is down by -1.65%, now at $324.56.
• RSI readings suggest the stock is currently is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Anticipated earnings release is in 35 days.

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.