Investors Buy High Volume of Put Options on iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:IEF)

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:IEF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 306,943 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 735% compared to the average daily volume of 36,754 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in shares of iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.48% of the company’s stock.

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF Stock Performance

IEF stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.94. 8,726,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,125,820. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.59. iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF has a 1-year low of $92.79 and a 1-year high of $98.04. The firm has a market cap of $46.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.00 and a beta of 0.26.

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.2828 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%.

About iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (the Fund) is an is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of the United States Treasury bonds with remaining maturities between seven and ten years. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Barclays U.S. 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Index (the Underlying Index), which measures the performance of public obligations of the United States Treasury that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to seven years and less than ten years.