The major market indices logged their third consecutive weekly win on Friday, with the S&P 500 claiming a perch above the psychologically significant 2,100 level. The bullish activity in stocks translated into calls in the options pits, with the CBOE put/call volume ratio sinking to one-week low of 0.53. Among the top 10 most active stocks in the options pits were Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO).
Today, we’ll see what investors can do with that options info.
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
Apple Inc., the perennial favorite among short-term options traders, once again dominated activity in the options pits on Friday. While volume was a bit below average, likely suppressed by February options expiration on Friday, some 987,637 contracts traded on AAPL stock. Roughly 69% of this volume crossed on the call side of the tape. With February options expiring, Apple watchers will want to keep a close eye on where volume trends this week.
In the news, Apple stock could get some lift from the U.S. government’s announcement last month that Apple Pay will now be accepted as a standard for the roughly 9 million federal payment cards. Additionally, Goldman Sachs raised its price target for Apple shares to $145 from $130 last week, maintaining its “buy” rating.
Facebook Inc (FB)
Options volume on Facebook stock spiked late last week, as shares surged more than 5% on Thursday to flirt with short-term technical resistance at the $80 level. Helping to drive FB stock higher were reports that Instagram could be valued at as much as $33 billion. Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion back in 2012, so needless to say, that’d be a considerable return for the company.
On the options front, FB stock saw some 418,999 option contracts trade on Friday. Some 73% of this volume traded on the call side of the coin, with much of the activity taking place in the expiring February series. Most of this volume was likely profit taking ahead of expiration, or the rollout of existing positions to back-month contracts.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO)
Rounding out our options coverage, Cisco Systems attracted its fair share of activity Friday. CSCO attracted heavy volume of 121,032 contracts, with the bulls dominating the landscape as 79% of the traffic traded on the call side of the tape.
Cisco has seen little in the way of headline news since its recent quarterly report. But analysts at Piper Jaffray reiterated its support of Cisco stock over the weekend, stating that they see little in the way of downside risk for CSCO. This rosy report stands as a point of contrast to other investor concerns that Cisco could face considerable risks from Facebook.
In premarket trading, the Piper Jaffray note appears to be winning the sentiment battle, as CSCO stock was up more than 2% at last check.
As of this writing, Joseph Hargett did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
