Short Interest in First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:FTLS) Grows By 75.1%

First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:FTLS) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 142,321 shares, an increase of 75.1% from the June 30th total of 81,280 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 112,794 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTLS. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,252,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,876,000 after buying an additional 78,397 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,606,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,381,000 after acquiring an additional 57,245 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,417,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,161,000 after buying an additional 231,155 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,397,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,200,000 after acquiring an additional 149,648 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 673,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,633,000 after purchasing an additional 209,579 shares during the period.

First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF Price Performance

FTLS stock traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $75.22. 149,089 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 114,035. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.56. First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF has a fifty-two week low of $65.84 and a fifty-two week high of $77.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59 and a beta of 0.50.

About First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF

The First Trust Long\u002FShort Equity ETF (FTLS) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in long\u002Fshort alternatives. The fund takes both long and short position in US-listed equity with US and foreign exposure. The actively managed funds will typically be 90-100% long and 0-50% short. FTLS was launched on Sep 9, 2014 and is managed by First Trust.