Question 4. Option Pricing with Black-Scholes-Merton Model

Today is January 12, 2017. The shares of XYZ Inc. are currently selling for $120 per share. The shares have an estimated volatility of 25%. XYZ Inc. is also expected to pay a dividend of $1.50 with an ex-dividend date of January 25, 2017. The risk-free rate is 6.17 percent per year with continuous compounding. Assume that one call option gives the holder the right to purchase one share.

a. Use the Black-Scholes-Merton model to estimate the fair value of a European call option on XYZ shares, with exercise price of $125 and expiration date of March 21, 2017. (Note that 2017 is not a leap year.)

b. This European call option has a market price of $3.00. Is it correctly priced? If not, how can an investor use the put-call parity to take advantage of this arbitrage opportunity?