Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSEARCA:EWY)

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSEARCA:EWY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 135,744 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 221% compared to the typical volume of 42,255 put options.

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA:EWY traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $125.84. 39,356,607 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,308,273. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.22. iShares MSCI South Korea ETF has a twelve month low of $48.49 and a twelve month high of $154.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $121.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.21.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares MSCI South Korea ETF

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EWY. Innealta Capital LLC increased its holdings in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 179.5% during the second quarter. Innealta Capital LLC now owns 27,391 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 17,590 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $394,000. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $512,000. Cullen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 94.0% in the second quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 196,402 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $14,098,000 after purchasing an additional 95,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 6.2% during the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 81,215 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $6,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,733 shares during the period. 49.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI Korea 25/50 Index (the Index). The Index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Stock Market Division of the Korean Exchange. The Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization weighted index with a capping methodology applied to issuer weights so that no issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the Index weight and all issuers with weight above 5% do not exceed 50% of the Index weight.