Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX) Options Heat Up

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) is just off an eight-year peak of $17.81, with the stock last seen 0.8% higher at $17.38. The medical device maker is extending yesterday's FDA-inspired surge, and option traders are placing bets on the equity's trajectory over the next couple of months.

BSX's short-term options are popular, as the equity's 30-day at-the-money implied volatility has jumped 5% to 24.8%. While calls are outnumbering puts -- and trading at nearly twice the average intraday clip -- BSX put volume is running at six times the norm.

Both bears and bulls are eyeing the May series, with potential buy-to-open activity detected at the May 15 put and May 17 call -- the two most active contracts thus far. Buyers of the put are either gambling on BSX to backpedal south of $15 -- in territory not charted since the stock's mid-February bull gap -- or are looking to hedge their long stock positions. The call buyers, meanwhile, are expecting BSX to extend its quest for new highs north of $17 before options expire on Friday, May 15.

Expanding our sentiment scope, while most analysts are already in the bulls' corner -- 14 of 22 offer up "buy" or better opinions -- price-target hikes aren't outside the realm of possibility. The average 12-month price target on Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) sits at $17.95 -- just a stone's throw from today's new high.