Options Bulls Active as Uber Stock Hits New High

The weekly 7/5 47-strike call is being targeted today

It's been a a big week for Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER), which closed above its initial public offering (IPO) price of $45 per share for the first time ever yesterday. The ride-sharing stock is extending this upside today, last seen 3.2% higher at $46.56. The breakout session has options traders blitzing UBER stock, and the bulk of the action seems to be at the hands of bulls.

With about two hours left to go in today's trading, around 68,000 calls and 26,000 puts have changed hands on Uber, more than two times what's typically seen at this point. Buy-to-open activity is detected at the weekly 7/5 47-strike call, meaning traders expect the stock to climb back above $47 by the close next Friday, July 5. Earlier, UBER shares topped out at a record high of $47.08.

Outside a recent batch of bearish betting, today's call buying echoes a broader trend seen in Uber Technologies' options pits. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), speculative players have bought to open 2.23 calls for each put over the last 10 sessions.

The optimism toward UBER has hardly been confined to the options arena. While 21 of 25 covering analysts maintain a "buy" or better recommendation -- and not one "sell" on the books -- the average 12-month price target of $54 is a 16.3% premium to current trading levels.