Investors Buy Large Volume of iShares Gold Trust Call Options (NYSEARCA:IAU)

iShares Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:IAU) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 25,146 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 469% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,420 call options.

Institutional Trading of iShares Gold Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in iShares Gold Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $544,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in iShares Gold Trust by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,050 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its stake in iShares Gold Trust by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 8,870 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in iShares Gold Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,884 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in iShares Gold Trust by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 24,619 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. 59.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

iShares Gold Trust Price Performance

IAU stock opened at $46.60 on Wednesday. iShares Gold Trust has a 1 year low of $34.35 and a 1 year high of $46.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.89 and its 200-day moving average is $43.00.

iShares Gold Trust Company Profile

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.