Mattel, Inc. (MAT: sentiment, chart, options) was a popular target in the options arena on Tuesday, as investors scooped up calls to cash in on the toymaker's dividend. More specifically, option players simultaneously bought shares of the stock and sold in-the-money covered calls. On the firm's ex-dividend date (today), the traders can capture the dividend without suffering a dip in the stock price by buying (to close) their call positions and selling the stock.

The in-the-money January 2010 17.50 call was far and away the most active, with more than 208,200 contracts changing hands. However, call open interest at the January 17.50 strike actually depleted by roughly 6,500 contracts, confirming our suspicions that investors were opening and closing their positions within the same session. (For more information on dividend-capture strategies, check out a recent edition of So You Want to Trade Options.

In light of the rapid depletion in near-term call open interest, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) skyrocketed from 0.87 to 1.58 overnight. This reading now stands at an annual pessimistic peak, and indicates that puts now outnumber calls among options slated to expire within three months.

Technically speaking, the shares of MAT have nearly doubled since grazing the $11 region in April, and are now flirting with the $20 level. What's more, the stock is poised to close the month atop resistance at its 36-month moving average for only the second time in two years.