iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM) Short Interest Up 26.9% in March

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 101,435,731 shares, an increase of 26.9% from the February 26th total of 79,904,394 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 56,302,194 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 35.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of iShares Russell 2000 ETF

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 633.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 43,751,735 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $10,769,927,000 after buying an additional 51,952,453 shares during the period. CTC LLC lifted its stake in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 102.5% during the third quarter. CTC LLC now owns 339,320 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $82,102,000 after acquiring an additional 13,804,173 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF in the second quarter valued at about $1,230,003,000. HRT Financial LP increased its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 4,119,165 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,013,973,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184,265 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 452.0% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 1,655,028 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $407,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355,215 shares during the period.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF Stock Performance

IWM traded up $5.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $244.64. The company had a trading volume of 12,680,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,153,313. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has a twelve month low of $171.73 and a twelve month high of $271.60. The company has a market capitalization of $69.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.94.

About iShares Russell 2000 ETF

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Index (the Index). The Index is a float-adjusted capitalization weighted index that measures the performance of the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market and includes securities issued by the approximately 2,000 smallest issuers in the Russell 3000 Index. The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index.