iShares Gold Trust Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSEARCA:IAU)

iShares Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:IAU) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 37,609 put options on the company. This is an increase of 772% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,312 put options.

iShares Gold Trust Price Performance

IAU opened at $44.03 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.12. iShares Gold Trust has a 1-year low of $34.35 and a 1-year high of $46.08.

Institutional Trading of iShares Gold Trust

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in iShares Gold Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 21,572,711 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $841,983,000 after purchasing an additional 121,364 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in iShares Gold Trust by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 11,592,328 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $452,449,000 after purchasing an additional 463,281 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in iShares Gold Trust by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,294,050 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $360,189,000 after purchasing an additional 3,815,686 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in iShares Gold Trust by 226.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,060,223 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $236,531,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthNavi Inc. increased its holdings in iShares Gold Trust by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. WealthNavi Inc. now owns 4,414,668 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $172,304,000 after purchasing an additional 505,352 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.67% of the company’s stock.

About iShares Gold Trust

iShares Gold Trust (the Trust) is to own gold transferred to the Trust in exchange for shares issued by the Trust (Shares). Each Share represents a fractional undivided beneficial interest in the net assets of the Trust. The assets of the Trust consist of gold held by the Trust’s custodian on behalf of the Trust.