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

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 188,449 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 376% compared to the typical daily volume of 39,561 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. purchased a new position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 578 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 588 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. 75.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Stock Performance

Shares of XLB traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $52.72. The stock had a trading volume of 6,030,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,967,191. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.57. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a fifty-two week low of $42.03 and a fifty-two week high of $54.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 0.91.

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