iShares Semiconductor ETF Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:SOXX)

iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 57,170 put options on the company. This is an increase of 136% compared to the typical volume of 24,226 put options.

Institutional Trading of iShares Semiconductor ETF

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SOXX. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in iShares Semiconductor ETF in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in iShares Semiconductor ETF by 83.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in iShares Semiconductor ETF by 102.6% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,495 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $834,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new stake in iShares Semiconductor ETF in the second quarter worth $831,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in iShares Semiconductor ETF by 9.0% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,817 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,389,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter.

iShares Semiconductor ETF Price Performance

NASDAQ:SOXX opened at $615.68 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $451.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $369.92. iShares Semiconductor ETF has a 1 year low of $213.54 and a 1 year high of $618.84. The company has a market capitalization of $39.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84 and a beta of 1.75.

iShares Semiconductor ETF Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a $0.2079 dividend. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th.

About iShares Semiconductor ETF

iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF, formerly iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the United States-listed semiconductor stocks as represented by the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index (the Index). The Index is an equity benchmark for the United States-listed semiconductor stocks. The Index includes companies primarily involved in the design, distribution, manufacture and sale of semiconductors.