NetApp Takeover Rumors Stir Options Pot

NetApp

By Jon "DRJ" Najarian, cofounder of OptionMonster.

NetApp(NTAP Quote) is up more than 5% and seeing intense options action today as takeover rumors circulate on the trading floor.

Average daily call volume for NTAP is 5,900, but this morning more than 17,500 traded in the first 45 minutes alone. The heaviest activity was at the January 15 strike (NULAC) and, while the early interest came in small prints, our tracking systems showed subsequent trades in blocks of 3,553, 1,535 and 1,404 all within a few minutes of each other.

NetApp is one of the companies considered to be likely targets of companies with large cash reserves, as I mentioned in a Barron's column yesterday. NTAP, which hit $10 on Nov. 12, is trading up some 5.25% today at $14. The activity is particularly noteworthy as trading in general slows to a crawl on this New Year's Eve session.