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

iShares Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:IAU) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 4,921 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 52% compared to the average volume of 3,238 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares Gold Trust

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of iShares Gold Trust by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,065,092 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $1,146,335,000 after buying an additional 60,784 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of iShares Gold Trust by 0.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 18,152,535 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $902,181,000 after buying an additional 142,487 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of iShares Gold Trust by 0.8% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,921,731 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $741,610,000 after acquiring an additional 111,210 shares during the period. WealthNavi Inc. increased its stake in shares of iShares Gold Trust by 4.2% in the third quarter. WealthNavi Inc. now owns 5,782,790 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $287,405,000 after acquiring an additional 233,999 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of iShares Gold Trust by 15.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,518,705 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $154,577,000 after acquiring an additional 479,796 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.67% of the company’s stock.

iShares Gold Trust Stock Performance

Shares of IAU opened at $49.98 on Friday. iShares Gold Trust has a one year low of $37.53 and a one year high of $52.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.64.

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.