iShares MBS ETF (NASDAQ:MBB) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

iShares MBS ETF (NASDAQ:MBB) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,610,000 shares, an increase of 126.5% from the January 31st total of 710,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,652,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares MBS ETF

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MBB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of iShares MBS ETF by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 51,720,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,741,789,000 after acquiring an additional 17,056,138 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in iShares MBS ETF by 9,869.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,498,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,100,000 after buying an additional 5,443,314 shares during the last quarter. Essential Planning LLC. grew its position in shares of iShares MBS ETF by 6,413.4% in the fourth quarter. Essential Planning LLC. now owns 3,311,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260,687 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in iShares MBS ETF by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,858,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,003,943,000 after buying an additional 2,668,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in iShares MBS ETF by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 75,986,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,966,421,000 after buying an additional 1,826,521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.70% of the company’s stock.

iShares MBS ETF Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MBB traded up $0.41 on Friday, hitting $94.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,620,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,531,558. iShares MBS ETF has a 12 month low of $89.16 and a 12 month high of $96.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $91.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.39.

iShares MBS ETF Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.3414 per share. This is a boost from iShares MBS ETF’s previous dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd.

About iShares MBS ETF

iShares MBS ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares Barclays MBS Bond Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results, which correspond to the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. MBS Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of investment grade mortgage-backed pass-through securities issued by the Government National Mortgage (GNMA).