Amid heavy volume and a retreat, OraSure Technologies, Inc. (OSUR) calls are hot
After rocketing to a two-month high north of $7.50 yesterday, diagnostic test maker OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR) has come back down to earth. OSUR volume has been relatively heavy the past few sessions -- the stock is already on pace for the most active month since late 2005 -- possibly due to bets ahead of yesterday's UBS Global Healthcare Conference presentation from CEO Douglas A. Michels, or perhaps to bet on something on National Hepatitis Testing Day, commemorated by OSUR's ringing of the Nasdaq opening bell. At last check, OSUR is down 10.5% at $6.63 -- and on the short-sale restricted list -- but option players aren't giving up on a short-term ascent.
OSUR options are trading at 13 times the average intraday pace, though calls have outnumbered puts by a margin of more than 7-to-1. Digging deeper, it looks like speculators are buying to open 7.50-strike calls in both the June and October series. By doing so, the traders expect OSUR to climb back atop $7.50 by the options' respective expiration dates of Friday, June 19, and Friday, Oct. 16.
Prior to today, OSUR had been on the mend, rebounding from an annual low of $4.41, tagged earlier this month. In light of its recent surge, the stock's 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) jumped to 67 -- approaching overbought territory, suggesting today's pullback may have been in the cards. Now, OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR) is testing a foothold atop its 10-week moving average -- a trendline that's guided the shares lower since mid-January.