iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF (NASDAQ:ISTB) Stock Short Interest Jumps 233.5%

iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF (NASDAQ:ISTB) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 364,903 shares, an increase of 233.5% from the September 30th total of 109,411 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 761,184 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ISTB. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF in the third quarter valued at $340,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF during the third quarter valued at $542,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in shares of iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF by 84.7% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 17,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 7,990 shares in the last quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF by 6.2% in the third quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,273,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,173,000 after buying an additional 74,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 3,679 shares during the last quarter.

iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF Stock Performance

Shares of ISTB stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.59. The company had a trading volume of 346,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 516,803. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.16. The firm has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.11. iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF has a one year low of $47.01 and a one year high of $49.05.

iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a $0.1772 dividend. This is an increase from iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF’s previous monthly dividend of $0.1743. This represents a $2.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st.

About iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF

The iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF (ISTB) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in broad credit fixed income. The fund tracks a broad USD-denominated bond index with 1-5 years remaining in maturities. ISTB was launched on Oct 18, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock.