First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSEARCA:FBT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSEARCA:FBT) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $261.58 and last traded at $261.0350, with a volume of 3594 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $259.63.

First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBT. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund by 49,660.7% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,515,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $705,900,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508,029 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund by 4,370.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 577,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,210,000 after buying an additional 564,319 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 401,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,856,000 after acquiring an additional 61,755 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 260,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,867,000 after purchasing an additional 60,187 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund by 5.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 200,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,357,000 after acquiring an additional 10,853 shares during the period.

First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund Company Profile

The First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (FBT) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NYSE Arca Biotechnology index. The fund tracks an equal-weighted index of US biotechnology stocks. FBT was launched on Jun 19, 2006 and is managed by First Trust.