Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSEARCA:XLB)

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 198,579 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 422% compared to the typical volume of 38,049 put options.

Institutional Trading of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 2.3% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 5,627 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its stake in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 5,167 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Vista Investment Management lifted its holdings in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 9,391 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its holdings in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 0.5% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 45,210 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $2,259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 46.6% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 648 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.78% of the company’s stock.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Price Performance

XLB stock remained flat at $52.01 during midday trading on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,347,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,681,610. The company has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.23. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a one year low of $42.03 and a one year high of $54.14.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Company Profile

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