Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) Stock Sees Heavy Put Option Buying

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 30,601 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 121% compared to the typical volume of 13,864 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XLB. LightSquare Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. LightSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,306 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 2,570 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 485.6% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 154,686 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $7,533,000 after buying an additional 128,272 shares during the period. Mader & Shannon Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 2.9% during the third quarter. Mader & Shannon Wealth Management Inc. now owns 96,360 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $4,693,000 after buying an additional 2,684 shares during the period. Sharper & Granite LLC grew its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 1.1% during the third quarter. Sharper & Granite LLC now owns 76,893 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $3,842,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 34.8% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,621 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after buying an additional 14,363 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.78% of the company’s stock.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Stock Down 1.9%

NYSEARCA:XLB traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.66. The company had a trading volume of 4,662,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,246,484. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 52-week low of $42.03 and a 52-week high of $54.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.08. The company has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 0.92.

About Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Materials Select Sector Index (the Index). The Index includes companies involved in such industries as chemicals; metals and mining; paper and forest products; containers and packaging, and construction materials. The Fund’s investment advisor is SSgA Funds Management, Inc