Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM).

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 QCOM, 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 22 uncommon options trades for Qualcomm.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 45% bullish and 31%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 5 are puts, for a total amount of $311,412, and 17 are calls, for a total amount of $764,481.

What's The Price Target?

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $65.0 to $260.0 for Qualcomm over the recent three months.

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 Qualcomm's options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across Qualcomm's significant trades, within a strike price range of $65.0 to $260.0, over the past month.

Qualcomm 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm develops and licenses wireless technology and designs chips for smartphones. The company's key patents revolve around CDMA and OFDMA technologies, which are standards in wireless communications that are the backbone of all 3G, 4G, and 5G networks. Qualcomm's IP is licensed by virtually all wireless device makers. The firm is also the world's largest wireless chip vendor, supplying nearly every premier handset maker with leading-edge processors. Qualcomm also sells RF-front end modules into smartphones, as well as chips into automotive and Internet of Things markets.

Qualcomm's Current Market Status

• With a volume of 4,931,830, the price of QCOM is up 1.76% at $203.69.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 28 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Qualcomm

A total of 2 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $252.5.

• An analyst from TD Cowen has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Qualcomm, which currently sits at a price target of $235.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Tigress Financial continues to hold a Buy rating for Qualcomm, targeting a price of $270.

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.