Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLU)

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLU) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 81,635 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 83% compared to the typical volume of 44,650 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CMG Global Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 1.2% during the third quarter. CMG Global Holdings LLC now owns 9,675 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 10,521 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Paragon Financial Partners Inc. now owns 45,029 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $3,927,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 10,531 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $918,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 90.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund Price Performance

XLU stock opened at $46.73 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.17. The stock has a market cap of $23.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74 and a beta of 0.59. Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund has a one year low of $35.51 and a one year high of $47.80.

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund Company Profile

Select Sector Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (the Fund), formerly Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Utilities Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index (the Index). The Index includes companies from industries, such as electric utilities, multi-utilities, independent power producers and energy traders, and gas utilities. The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing investment approach to attempt to approximate the investment performance of the Index.