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

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 243,245 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 451% compared to the average volume of 44,163 put options.

Institutional Trading of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ES4 LLC grew its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 37.4% during the 1st quarter. ES4 LLC now owns 42,124 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 11,470 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,685,000. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 15,773 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC now owns 24,151 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,207,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 45,210 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $2,259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.78% of the company’s stock.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Trading Up 1.4%

XLB traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $51.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,895,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,187,763. The stock has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.90. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month 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