Puts Rolled on HCA Holdings (HCA)

Shares of HCA Holdings (HCA) are trading lower on the session by 0.54%, at $33.08. The stock has been spiking higher over the past four months, jumping off of the 200-day moving average and moving to 15-month highs.

Put volume is spiking notably today, currently running at 14.6x the daily average. Over 21,000 puts have traded on HCA so far, the majority of which is coming in October.

The Oct $32.00 put was purchased 10,000 times, on the offer, for $0.60 just as 10,000 Oct $31.00 puts were sold, on the bid, for $0.25. Given the respective open interest at each strike, 480 and 10,073, this is clearly a roll of a long put position to a higher strike.

The trader is likely looking to increase their delta and gamma exposure to the name to offset the recent upside move.

Puts have been active on HCA as of late. On Oct 1^st, an institutional trader purchased 11,000 November $30.00 puts for $0.80-0.85; volume far exceeded open interest.

Current, near-term implied and historical volatility is registering 34% and 24%, respectively, just off of yearly lows.

HCA Holdings, Inc. is a holding company whose affiliates owns and operates hospitals and related health care entities. HCA is a health care services companies in the United States.

About Michael Zerinskas

Originally from Chicago, Michael J. Zerinskas began his career as an intern for a small high-frequency trading firm based at the CME; he then moved on to become Chief Options Strategist at Benzinga.com. Michael is now Unusual Activity Editor at The Options Insider, specializing in VIX, volatility, and flagging unusual activity.