Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:LQD)

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:LQD) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 128,133 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 98% compared to the typical volume of 64,751 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in shares of iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 64.5% in the first quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 18,626 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 7,304 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its position in shares of iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 11.4% in the first quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 87,138 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $9,507,000 after purchasing an additional 8,909 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 15.7% in the first quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 257,303 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $28,043,000 after purchasing an additional 34,847 shares in the last quarter. Finhabits Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 2.4% in the first quarter. Finhabits Advisors LLC now owns 100,809 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $10,987,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its position in shares of iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 589.3% in the first quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 22,387 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 19,139 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSEARCA LQD traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $109.09. The company had a trading volume of 21,041,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,186,582. The company has a market capitalization of $30.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25 and a beta of 0.44. iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF has a 1 year low of $106.93 and a 1 year high of $112.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $108.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.89.

About iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index (the Index), which is a rules-based index consisting of liquid, the United States dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds for sale in the United States. The Index may include large-, mid- or small-capitalization companies, and components primarily include consumer services, financial, and oil and gas companies.