Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:IYR)

iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:IYR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 23,417 put options on the company. This is an increase of 300% compared to the typical volume of 5,856 put options.

iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF Price Performance

IYR stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $103.32. 4,834,732 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,959,654. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $102.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.20. iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF has a 52-week low of $92.45 and a 52-week high of $105.15. The company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.41 and a beta of 0.97.

Institutional Trading of iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IYR. Barclays PLC grew its position in iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,260,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $587,763,000 after buying an additional 108,864 shares in the last quarter. WealthNavi Inc. boosted its position in shares of iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. WealthNavi Inc. now owns 6,010,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $568,329,000 after acquiring an additional 171,312 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF during the fourth quarter worth about $399,722,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF during the fourth quarter worth about $322,756,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF in the fourth quarter worth approximately $276,312,000. Institutional investors own 98.41% of the company’s stock.

About iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF

iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF, formerly iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index Fund (the Fund), is a non-diversified fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the real estate sector of the United States equity market, and includes companies in the industry groups, such as real estate holding and development and real estate investment trusts (REITs).