Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Microsoft ( MSFT ) .

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 MSFT, 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 154 uncommon options trades for Microsoft ( MSFT ).

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 53% bullish and 29%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 87 are puts, for a total amount of $7,103,937, and 67 are calls, for a total amount of $4,354,768.

What's The Price Target?

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $220.0 to $530.0 for Microsoft ( MSFT ) over the recent three months.

Analyzing 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 Microsoft's ( MSFT ) options at specified strike prices. The forthcoming data visualizes the fluctuation in volume and open interest for both calls and puts, linked to Microsoft's ( MSFT ) substantial trades, within a strike price spectrum from $220.0 to $530.0 over the preceding 30 days.

Microsoft Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About Microsoft

Microsoft ( MSFT ) develops and licenses consumer and enterprise software. It is known for its Windows operating systems and Office productivity suite. The company is organized into three equally sized broad segments: productivity and business processes (legacy Microsoft Office ( MSFT ), cloud-based Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Skype, LinkedIn, Dynamics), intelligence cloud (infrastructure- and platform-as-a-service offerings Azure, Windows Server OS, SQL Server), and more personal computing (Windows Client, Xbox, Bing search, display advertising, and Surface laptops, tablets, and desktops).

In light of the recent options history for Microsoft ( MSFT ), it's now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance.

Present Market Standing of Microsoft

Trading volume stands at 10,334,921, with MSFT's price up by 0.22%, positioned at $392.13.

RSI indicators show the stock to be is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.

Earnings announcement expected in 31 days.

What Analysts Are Saying About Microsoft

5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $508.0.

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* Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Stifel keeps a Buy rating on Microsoft ( MSFT ) with a target price of $475.

* An analyst from DA Davidson upgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $450.

* An analyst from Wedbush has revised its rating downward to Outperform, adjusting the price target to $550.

* Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Tigress Financial continues to hold a Buy rating for Microsoft ( MSFT ), targeting a price of $595.

* Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Scotiabank lowers its rating to Sector Outperform with a new price target of $470.

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.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Microsoft ( MSFT ), Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.