Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB)

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 282,461 put options on the company. This is an increase of 686% compared to the average daily volume of 35,927 put options.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Trading Up 0.9%

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $53.38. 12,795,668 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,963,473. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a one year low of $36.56 and a one year high of $53.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.53. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 1.03.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Silicon Valley Capital Partners purchased a new position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund during the second quarter valued at $25,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 488.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 300 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 514.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 338 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund during the third quarter worth about $35,000. 75.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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