Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEARCA:EFA)

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEARCA:EFA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 254,384 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 259% compared to the typical daily volume of 70,938 call options.

Institutional Trading of iShares MSCI EAFE ETF

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE ETF by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 236,460 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $17,879,000 after acquiring an additional 11,902 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE ETF in the fourth quarter worth about $629,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE ETF by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,190 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE ETF by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 115,897 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $10,360,000 after buying an additional 20,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE ETF by 6.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,960 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $6,790,000 after acquiring an additional 4,348 shares in the last quarter. 79.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF Stock Performance

NYSEARCA:EFA traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $105.02. The stock had a trading volume of 14,219,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,129,324. iShares MSCI EAFE ETF has a 1 year low of $85.68 and a 1 year high of $105.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.08. The stock has a market cap of $77.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.78.

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF, formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund’s investment objective is to seek investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of its underlying index, MSCI EAFE Index (the Index). The Index has been developed by MSCI Inc as an equity benchmark for its international stock performance. The Index includes stocks from Europe, Australasia and the Far East. The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index.