iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (BATS:QUAL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (BATS:QUAL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 576,361 shares, an increase of 50.8% from the August 31st total of 382,209 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 972,403 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of QUAL stock opened at $224.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59 and a beta of 1.05. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF has a 52-week low of $185.88 and a 52-week high of $227.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $222.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.77.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 36.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,741,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,676,734,000 after buying an additional 2,357,971 shares during the period. Orgel Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 2.0% during the second quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,358,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,892,000 after buying an additional 65,534 shares during the period. Facet Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 11.3% in the second quarter. Facet Wealth Inc. now owns 3,300,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $724,159,000 after acquiring an additional 334,234 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,386,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,097,000 after acquiring an additional 240,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,777,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,861,000 after acquiring an additional 49,616 shares during the period.

About iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF

The iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (QUAL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality index. The fund tracks an index of US large- and mid-cap stocks, selected and weighted by high ROE, stable earnings growth and low debt\u002Fequity, relative to peers in each sector. QUAL was launched on Jul 18, 2013 and is managed by BlackRock.