Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY)

iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 7,851 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,376% compared to the typical volume of 532 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares Select Dividend ETF

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in iShares Select Dividend ETF by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in iShares Select Dividend ETF in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in iShares Select Dividend ETF by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 77,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,343,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF by 52.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 24,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 8,479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.08% of the company’s stock.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Stock Performance

NASDAQ:DVY traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $155.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 122,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,022. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.83. iShares Select Dividend ETF has a 1 year low of $130.63 and a 1 year high of $160.38.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $1.2472 per share. This represents a $4.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from iShares Select Dividend ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Company Profile

iShares Select Dividend ETF, formerly iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of a selected group of equity securities issued by companies that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time. The Index consists of 100 of the highest dividend-yielding securities (excluding real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the Dow Jones U.S.