Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) is fresh off a decade-plus high of $75.39, up 2.4% this afternoon at $75.25. Option bulls have taken notice, too, with calls crossing at five times the expected intraday clip -- and outpacing puts by a more than 3-to-1 margin.
Diving deeper, AKAM's June 85 call is seeing the most attention, with roughly 3,000 contracts on the tape, and data suggests new positions are being bought to open. By purchasing the out-of-the-money positions, traders are anticipating the tech stock will rally north of $85 -- territory not charted since mid-2000 -- by the close on Friday, June 19, when the back-month options expire.
Longer term, option players have been
targeting AKAM puts over calls at an accelerated rate. During the past 10 weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity has accumulated a put/call volume ratio of 0.69 -- in the 81st percentile of its annual range. Given Akamai Technologies, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AKAM) technical tenacity, a portion of these long puts may have been initiated by shareholders seeking a downside hedge.