Options Traders Pick Up Pharma Stock After Eli Lilly Buyout

Centessa Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ:CNTA) shares are surging today, last seen 44.4% higher to trade at $39.90 on news that Eli Lilly (LLY) will acquire the company for $6.3 billion. The move is part of the former's plans to diversify its metabolic portfolio with sleep disorder treatments.

Analysts chimed in on the update, with Needham and B. Riley downgrading CNTA to "hold" and "neutral," respectively, from "buy." Piper Sandler cut its rating to "neutral" from "overweight." Analysts were bullish coming into today, with 16 of the 17 in coverage sporting "buy" or better ratings.

Options traders are targeting CNTA, too, with 3,467 calls and 2,687 puts traded so far -- 11 times the volume typically seen at this point. Most active is the April 30 call, followed by the December 22.50 puts.

CNTA is headed for its best day on record and earlier scored an all-time high of $40.26. The shares are staging a bounce off the rising 40-day moving average, and now sport a more than 203% nine-month lead.