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OraSure Technologies, Inc. tagged a fresh 52-week peak right out of the gate today
Ebola has been dominating headlines of late, and diagnostic specialist OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR) is one name that's been capitalizing on the growing fear, tacking on roughly 26% month-to-date. It's no surprise then, to see call players active on the stock, and yesterday, volume soared to 211 times the average daily pace. Short-term contracts were particularly popular, as evidenced by OSUR's 30-day at-the-money implied volatility (IV), which surged 94.1% to 128.9% -- a 52-week peak.
Drilling down, a number of speculators bet on -- or hedged against -- a move to double-digit territory over the next five weeks. Specifically, buy-to-open activity was detected at OSUR's October and November 10 calls. Delta on the front-month call -- which expires at tomorrow night's close -- is docked at 0.39, and 0.51 for the back-month call, which will expire at the close on Friday, Nov. 21.
On the charts, OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR) has not traded north of $10 in two years. As noted, though, the equity -- along with a number of biopharmaceutical firms -- has been in rally mode of late. In fact, the stock jumped 12% right of the gate today, and to a new annual high of $9.58, after Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on OSUR by $1 to $12, and underscored its "buy" rating, on speculation the company is developing a test for the virus. At last check, OSUR was up 9.5% to linger near $9.11.