Stock Traders Buy High Volume of VanEck Semiconductor ETF Put Options (NASDAQ:SMH)

VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 124,438 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 56% compared to the typical daily volume of 79,787 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VanEck Semiconductor ETF

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,743,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,901,000 after buying an additional 113,705 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,624,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,377,000 after buying an additional 514,000 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,303,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,983,000 after buying an additional 424,042 shares during the period. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC boosted its position in VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC now owns 942,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,415,000 after buying an additional 253,300 shares during the period. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its position in VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 600,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,260,000 after buying an additional 217,702 shares during the period.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of SMH stock traded down $5.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $261.15. 3,507,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,671,288. VanEck Semiconductor ETF has a 12-month low of $184.15 and a 12-month high of $283.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $248.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82 and a beta of 1.35.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $1.0713 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd.

About VanEck Semiconductor ETF

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 index, a market-cap-weighted index of 25 of the largest US-listed semiconductors companies. SMH was launched on May 5, 2000 and is managed by VanEck.