Investors Buy High Volume of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Put Options (NYSEARCA:EWZ)

iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (NYSEARCA:EWZ) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 185,216 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 32% compared to the typical daily volume of 140,225 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares MSCI Brazil ETF

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,253,730 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $283,812,000 after buying an additional 2,428,079 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,340,670 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $151,750,000 after acquiring an additional 351,165 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 0.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,637,406 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $111,559,000 after acquiring an additional 22,200 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 383.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,552,853 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $124,208,000 after acquiring an additional 2,818,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 34,384.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 3,336,044 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $102,363,000 after purchasing an additional 3,326,370 shares during the period.

iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Trading Up 2.3 %

EWZ traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,031,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,637,701. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.93. iShares MSCI Brazil ETF has a 52-week low of $27.20 and a 52-week high of $35.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.72.

About iShares MSCI Brazil ETF

iShares MSCI Brazil Capped Index Fund (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Brazilian market, as measured by the MSCI Brazil Index (the Index).