Investors with significant funds have taken a bearish position in Welltower (NYSE:WELL), a development that retail traders should be aware of.
This was brought to our attention today through our monitoring of publicly accessible options data at Benzinga. The exact nature of these investors remains a mystery, but such a major move in WELL usually indicates foreknowledge of upcoming events.
Today, Benzinga's options scanner identified 8 options transactions for Welltower. This is an unusual occurrence. The sentiment among these large-scale traders is mixed, with 37% being bullish and 50% bearish. Of all the options we discovered, 7 are puts, valued at $386,200, and there was a single call, worth $69,000.
Projected Price Targets
Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $90.0 to $100.0 for Welltower during the past quarter.
Insights into 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 Welltower's options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across Welltower's significant trades, within a strike price range of $90.0 to $100.0, over the past month.
Welltower 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot
Noteworthy Options Activity:
| Symbol | PUT/CALL | Trade Type | Sentiment | Exp. Date | Ask | Bid | Price | Strike Price | Total Trade Price | Open Interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WELL | PUT | TRADE | BEARISH | 01/16/26 | $6.8 | $4.0 | $6.1 | $90.00 | $82.3K | 276 | 502 |
| WELL | PUT | TRADE | BULLISH | 01/16/26 | $6.3 | $6.1 | $6.1 | $90.00 | $69.5K | 276 | 367 |
| WELL | CALL | SWEEP | BULLISH | 06/21/24 | $2.3 | $2.2 | $2.3 | $100.00 | $69.0K | 2.1K | 400 |
| WELL | PUT | TRADE | NEUTRAL | 01/16/26 | $8.3 | $4.6 | $6.1 | $90.00 | $62.8K | 276 | 250 |
| WELL | PUT | TRADE | BEARISH | 01/16/26 | $6.4 | $4.7 | $6.0 | $90.00 | $57.6K | 276 | 670 |
About Welltower
Welltower owns a diversified healthcare portfolio of 2,096 in-place properties spread across the senior housing, medical office, and skilled nursing/post-acute care sectors. The portfolio includes over 100 properties in both Canada and the United Kingdom as the company looks for additional investment opportunities in countries with mature healthcare systems that operate similarly to that of the United States.
After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding Welltower, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.
Current Position of Welltower
- With a volume of 1,253,141, the price of WELL is up 1.8% at $100.6.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be overbought.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 75 days.
What The Experts Say On Welltower
A total of 1 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $105.0.
- Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Mizuho keeps a Buy rating on Welltower with a target price of $105.
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.
