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

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:LQD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 113,390 put options on the company. This is an increase of 84% compared to the average volume of 61,555 put options.

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LQD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 buying an additional 3,190,347 shares during the last quarter. Payden & Rygel purchased a new stake in iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,172,000. BNP Paribas grew its stake 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 valued at $260,303,000 after acquiring an additional 298,058 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF by 6,160.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 241,595 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $26,331,000 after acquiring an additional 237,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Family Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company’s stock.

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF Stock Performance

Shares of LQD traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.11. 28,064,082 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 33,605,293. iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF has a 12-month low of $105.93 and a 12-month high of $112.93. The company has a market cap of $32.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $107.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.93.

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.