Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY)

iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 14,890 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,588% compared to the typical volume of 554 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares Select Dividend ETF

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DVY. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF by 1,771.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,385,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $901,247,000 after buying an additional 6,044,290 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in iShares Select Dividend ETF by 745.9% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 505,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,373,000 after buying an additional 445,910 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in iShares Select Dividend ETF by 178.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 645,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,763,000 after acquiring an additional 413,908 shares during the period. Align Financial LLC bought a new position in iShares Select Dividend ETF in the 4th quarter worth $39,639,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in iShares Select Dividend ETF by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,506,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $918,369,000 after acquiring an additional 224,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.08% of the company’s stock.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:DVY opened at $165.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.66. iShares Select Dividend ETF has a 1 year low of $132.83 and a 1 year high of $166.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $157.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.87.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $1.2472 dividend. This is an increase from iShares Select Dividend ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $4.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Company Profile

iShares Select Dividend ETF, formerly iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of a selected group of equity securities issued by companies that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time. The Index consists of 100 of the highest dividend-yielding securities (excluding real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the Dow Jones U.S.