Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Alibaba Gr Hldgs (NYSE:BABA).

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 BABA, 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 9 uncommon options trades for Alibaba Gr Hldgs.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 44% bullish and 33%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 3 are puts, for a total amount of $126,576, and 6 are calls, for a total amount of $353,200.

Projected Price Targets

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $101.0 to $120.0 for Alibaba Gr Hldgs over the last 3 months.

Insights into Volume & Open Interest

Assessing the volume and open interest is a strategic step in options trading. These metrics shed light on the liquidity and investor interest in Alibaba Gr Hldgs's options at specified strike prices. The forthcoming data visualizes the fluctuation in volume and open interest for both calls and puts, linked to Alibaba Gr Hldgs's substantial trades, within a strike price spectrum from $101.0 to $120.0 over the preceding 30 days.

Alibaba Gr Hldgs 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Largest Options Trades Observed:

About Alibaba Gr Hldgs

Alibaba is the world's largest online and mobile commerce company as measured by gross merchandise volume. It operates China's online marketplaces, including Taobao (consumer-to-consumer) and Tmall (business-to-consumer). The China commerce retail division is the most valuable cash flow-generating business at Alibaba. Additional revenue sources include China commerce wholesale, international commerce retail/wholesale, local consumer services, cloud computing, digital media and entertainment platforms, Cainiao logistics services, and innovation initiatives/other.

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

Current Position of Alibaba Gr Hldgs

• Currently trading with a volume of 845,510, the BABA's price is down by -1.39%, now at $100.75.
• RSI readings suggest the stock is currently may be approaching overbought.
• Anticipated earnings release is in 28 days.

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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.