First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) Short Interest Up 330.2% in July

First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 256,371 shares, a growth of 330.2% from the June 30th total of 59,597 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 258,225 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of FTSL stock opened at $44.74 on Friday. First Trust Senior Loan ETF has a 12-month low of $44.37 and a 12-month high of $46.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $44.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.11.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Senior Loan ETF

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF during the first quarter worth about $5,254,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 111.5% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,714 shares in the last quarter. Betterment LLC raised its position in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 8,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 316.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 23,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 18,125 shares during the last quarter.

About First Trust Senior Loan ETF

The First Trust Senior Loan Fund (FTSL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S&P\u002FLSTA U.S. Leveraged Loan 100 index. The fund holds senior floating rate bank loans from firms around the globe. The actively managed fund can hold up to 20% of assets in non-senior loans, including high-yield bonds and equities. FTSL was launched on May 1, 2013 and is managed by First Trust.