iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSEARCA:LQD)

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:LQD) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 82,678 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 61,074 put options.

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Stock Performance

Shares of LQD opened at $106.41 on Friday. iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF has a 52-week low of $106.07 and a 52-week high of $112.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25 and a beta of 0.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 430.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,932,215 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $433,291,000 after acquiring an additional 3,190,347 shares during the period. BNP Paribas increased its holdings in iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,362,313 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $260,303,000 after acquiring an additional 298,058 shares during the period. Penn Mutual Asset Management bought a new stake in iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $142,182,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 600,200 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $66,136,000 after acquiring an additional 149,000 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 54.5% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 472,813 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $52,099,000 after purchasing an additional 166,701 shares in the last quarter. 89.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Company Profile

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.