Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH)

VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 129,690 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 34% compared to the average daily volume of 96,576 put options.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF Price Performance

Shares of SMH stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $224.99. The stock had a trading volume of 3,703,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,972,710. VanEck Semiconductor ETF has a fifty-two week low of $118.57 and a fifty-two week high of $239.14. The firm has a market cap of $16.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.61.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its position in VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 5,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VanEck Semiconductor ETF by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 12,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter.

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.