Short Interest in iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:EWJ) Rises By 187.0%

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:EWJ) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 21,719,831 shares, a growth of 187.0% from the March 15th total of 7,566,618 shares. Approximately 9.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 10,453,188 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF Stock Down 0.1%

iShares MSCI Japan ETF stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $88.13. The stock had a trading volume of 4,469,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,608,858. The stock has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.67. iShares MSCI Japan ETF has a one year low of $64.32 and a one year high of $94.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares MSCI Japan ETF

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWJ. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 254.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,542,081 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $205,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,734 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 511.5% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,830,745 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $147,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531,363 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 1,593.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 992,110 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $80,103,000 after purchasing an additional 933,517 shares during the last quarter. Johns Hopkins University bought a new position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF in the second quarter valued at about $57,761,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 2.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 26,102,320 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $2,093,667,000 after purchasing an additional 662,373 shares during the last quarter. 64.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About iShares MSCI Japan ETF

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (the fund), formerly Ishares Msci Japan Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Japanese market, as measured by the MSCI Japan Index (the Index). The Index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index.