Options trading in MetLife Inc. (ticker: MET) accelerated into Thursday afternoon, reaching a total of 4,594 contracts by 3:20 p.m. New York time, according to exchange data. The session was dominated by put option activity, which accounted for 3,382 contracts, while call options totaled 1,212 contracts.
The most actively traded single contract was the September 18, 2026 $77.50 put, which recorded 2,000 trades during the session. Open interest for that contract stood at 275 contracts as of Tuesday. Another heavily traded put was the September 18, 2026 $80 strike, with 1,001 contracts changing hands and an open interest of 824 contracts.
Call activity was lighter but not negligible. The January 21, 2028 $77.50 call saw 551 contracts trade, and open interest on that series was 625 contracts.
On the equity side, MetLife shares moved slightly higher, rising 0.17% to trade at $84.74 on Thursday.
Measures of near-term options-implied volatility also shifted during the session. The company’s three-month volatility increased by 0.08 percentage points, reaching 25.26%. At the same time, the three-month 90/110 skew — a gauge comparing implied volatility for out-of-the-money puts versus calls around that tenor — declined by 2.37 percentage points to 4.67 percentage points.
Context and market detail
The raw exchange figures show a clear skew toward put buying or put-heavy trading in this intraday snapshot, with specific September 2026 strikes attracting a substantial share of contracts. Calls accounted for roughly one quarter of total options volume for the session, while puts made up about three quarters.
Open interest figures reported as of Tuesday provide a snapshot of how many outstanding contracts remained on the books prior to Thursday’s surge in trading. The contrast between high intraday volume and lower open interest on the most-traded put highlights the intensity of turnover in those specific strikes during the session.
Data limitations
All volume and open interest figures reference exchange reporting and the snapshot timing described above. The open interest numbers are reported as of Tuesday; intraday volume totals reflect trading through 3:20 p.m. on Thursday.