Investors Buy Large Volume of iShares MSCI Australia ETF Put Options (NYSEARCA:EWA)

iShares MSCI Australia ETF (NYSEARCA:EWA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 14,430 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 7,115% compared to the average daily volume of 200 put options.

iShares MSCI Australia ETF Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSEARCA EWA opened at $28.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89 and a beta of 1.04. iShares MSCI Australia ETF has a 52 week low of $20.50 and a 52 week high of $30.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares MSCI Australia ETF

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Independent Wealth Network Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Australia ETF by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 28,904 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Gould Asset Management LLC CA raised its holdings in iShares MSCI Australia ETF by 4.5% during the third quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 11,030 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Acima Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in iShares MSCI Australia ETF by 1.1% during the third quarter. Acima Private Wealth LLC now owns 48,773 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in iShares MSCI Australia ETF by 7.9% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 8,334 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its holdings in iShares MSCI Australia ETF by 21.7% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 3,627 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. 59.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

iShares MSCI Australia ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI Australia ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, of publicly traded securities in the Australian market, as represented by the MSCI Australia Index (the Index). The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. The Index seeks to measure the performance of the Australian equity market.