Today’s tickers: UNH, MYGN & OMPI
UNH - UnitedHealth Group, Inc. – Shares in UnitedHealth rose sharply in after-hours trading on Monday after the U.S. government reversed an earlier decision to reduce a Medicare payment rate and instead offer an increase in the rate. Bullish bets initiated on UnitedHealth ahead of the federal government’s announcement yesterday generated big gains for some traders, with shares in UNH surging 8.4% to $63.95 in the early going today, the highest level since 2005. Open interest in weekly call options on UNH is greatest in the April 05 ’13 $57.5 and $60 strike calls, with more than 1,300 open contracts each. A review of time and sales data from the prior two trading session indicates most of the $57.5 strike calls were purchased ahead of the long weekend at an average premium of $0.39 each, while the $60 strike calls were picked up yesterday for an average premium of $0.17 apiece. The sharp rally in UnitedHealth’s shares since these upside call options were purchased now finds the $57.5 and $60 strike calls changing hands at $5.45 and $3.30 apiece, respectively, as of 11:15 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Traders long the weekly calls ahead of the close on Monday are sitting on big paper profits worth many times the initial premium outlay today. Overall options volume on UnitedHealth on Tuesday morning is approaching 24,000 contracts as of the time of this writing, or roughly three times the stock’s average daily volume. Call options are more active than puts, with the call/put ratio hovering around 1.9 as of 11:20 a.m. in New York.
MYGN - Myriad Genetics, Inc. – Options changing hands on biotechnology company, Myriad Genetics, Inc., this morning suggests one trader is bracing for shares in the maker of molecular diagnostic tests to potentially decline sharply during the next few months. The stock is bucking the broad market trend today, trading down 0.60% at $24.97 as of 11:30 a.m. ET. Shares in Myriad have dropped roughly 10% since the start of 2013.…
