MEDP Cash-Secured Put Strategy
MEDP (Medpace Holdings, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Diagnostics & Research industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Medpace Holdings, Inc. provides clinical research-based drug and medical device development services in North America, Europe, and Asia. It offers a suite of services supporting the clinical development process from Phase I to Phase IV in various therapeutic areas. The company also provides clinical development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries; and development plan design, coordinated central laboratory, project management, regulatory affairs, clinical monitoring, data management and analysis, pharmacovigilance new drug application submissions, and post-marketing clinical support services. In addition, it offers bio-analytical laboratory services, clinical human pharmacology, imaging services, and electrocardiography reading support for clinical trials. The company was founded in 1992 and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
MEDP (Medpace Holdings, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Diagnostics & Research, with a market capitalization of approximately $12.10B, a trailing P/E of 26.18, a beta of 1.19 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 284.48-628.916, average daily share volume of 398K, a public-listing history dating back to 2016, approximately 6K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MEDP stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.19 places MEDP roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a cash-secured put on MEDP?
A cash-secured put sells an out-of-the-money put while holding cash equal to the strike-times-100 obligation, keeping the premium when the underlying stays above the strike.
Current MEDP snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $417.39, ATM IV 36.60%, IV rank 18.76%, expected move 10.49%. The cash-secured put on MEDP below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 34-day expiry.
Why this cash-secured put structure on MEDP specifically: MEDP IV at 36.60% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling MEDP cash-secured put collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.49% (roughly $43.80 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated MEDP expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MEDP should anchor to the underlying notional of $417.39 per share and to the trader's directional view on MEDP stock.
MEDP cash-secured put setup
The MEDP cash-secured put below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With MEDP near $417.39, the first option leg uses a $400.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MEDP chain at a 34-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 MEDP shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Put | $400.00 | $10.40 |
MEDP cash-secured put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$1,040.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $1,040.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$38,959.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $389.60
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.027
Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.
MEDP cash-secured put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on MEDP. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | -$38,959.00 |
| $92.30 | -77.9% | -$29,730.39 |
| $184.58 | -55.8% | -$20,501.77 |
| $276.87 | -33.7% | -$11,273.16 |
| $369.15 | -11.6% | -$2,044.55 |
| $461.44 | +10.6% | +$1,040.00 |
| $553.73 | +32.7% | +$1,040.00 |
| $646.01 | +54.8% | +$1,040.00 |
| $738.30 | +76.9% | +$1,040.00 |
| $830.59 | +99.0% | +$1,040.00 |
When traders use cash-secured put on MEDP
Cash-secured puts on MEDP earn premium while a trader waits to acquire MEDP stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning MEDP.
MEDP thesis for this cash-secured put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MEDP extends from approximately $373.59 on the downside to $461.19 on the upside. A MEDP cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire MEDP at the strike price; the strategy is most attractive when the trader is comfortable holding the underlying at that level and IV is rich enough to compensate for the assignment risk. Current MEDP IV rank near 18.76% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on MEDP at 36.60%. As a Healthcare name, MEDP options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MEDP-specific events.
MEDP cash-secured put positions are structurally neutral to slightly bullish; the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. MEDP positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MEDP alongside the broader basket even when MEDP-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on MEDP carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical MEDP earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current MEDP chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a cash-secured put on MEDP?
- A cash-secured put on MEDP is the cash-secured put strategy applied to MEDP (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A cash-secured put sells an out-of-the-money put while holding cash equal to the strike-times-100 obligation, keeping the premium when the underlying stays above the strike. With MEDP stock trading near $417.39, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MEDP chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MEDP cash-secured put max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the MEDP cash-secured put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 36.60%), the computed maximum profit is $1,040.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$38,959.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MEDP cash-secured put?
- The breakeven for the MEDP cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $389.60 at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current MEDP market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.49%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a cash-secured put on MEDP?
- Cash-secured puts on MEDP earn premium while a trader waits to acquire MEDP stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning MEDP.
- How does current MEDP implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
- MEDP ATM IV is at 36.60% with IV rank near 18.76%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.