iShares MSCI Australia ETF Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSEARCA:EWA)

iShares MSCI Australia ETF (NYSEARCA:EWA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 3,564 put options on the company. This is an increase of 312% compared to the typical daily volume of 866 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares MSCI Australia ETF

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWA. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Australia ETF in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of iShares MSCI Australia ETF by 10,333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,565 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Australia ETF in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Australia ETF in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI Australia ETF during the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.69% of the company’s stock.

iShares MSCI Australia ETF Price Performance

Shares of EWA stock remained flat at $28.09 during trading hours on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 3,355,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,281,856. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.30. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89 and a beta of 0.97. iShares MSCI Australia ETF has a 1-year low of $24.94 and a 1-year high of $30.48.

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.