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

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 271,405 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 856% compared to the average volume of 28,399 put options.

Institutional Trading of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XLB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 102.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 156,400 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $13,734,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721,929 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 107.0% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 76,261 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $6,696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,514 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 8,680.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 740,303 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $65,006,000 after purchasing an additional 731,872 shares during the last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 69.3% during the third quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. now owns 1,636,350 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $146,650,000 after purchasing an additional 670,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund during the third quarter valued at about $44,890,000. Institutional investors own 75.78% of the company’s stock.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Trading Up 0.6%

XLB opened at $49.52 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.60 and its 200-day moving average is $45.06. The company has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 1.03. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 1-year low of $36.56 and a 1-year high of $49.83.

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