Investors Buy Large Volume of iShares MSCI Japan ETF Put Options (NYSEARCA:EWJ)

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:EWJ) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 19,164 put options on the company. This is an increase of 220% compared to the average daily volume of 5,997 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,472 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,164 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Patten Group Inc. increased its holdings in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 4,023 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,561 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 64.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF Price Performance

NYSEARCA:EWJ traded down $1.16 on Friday, reaching $96.75. The stock had a trading volume of 962,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,129,663. iShares MSCI Japan ETF has a 12-month low of $78.21 and a 12-month high of $98.79. The company has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $94.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.48.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF Company Profile

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.