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

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSEARCA:EWY) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 7,763 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 379% compared to the typical volume of 1,620 put options.

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA EWY traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $62.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,754,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,643,039. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.43. iShares MSCI South Korea ETF has a twelve month low of $54.49 and a twelve month high of $68.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 1.05.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 10,093.7% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,574,107 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $145,386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548,855 shares during the last quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $99,191,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 131.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,373,131 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $139,873,000 after buying an additional 1,349,156 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 129.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,754,380 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $99,087,000 after buying an additional 988,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 4,747.0% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 960,669 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $62,953,000 after acquiring an additional 940,849 shares during the period.

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.