Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB)

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 205,867 call options on the company. This is an increase of 481% compared to the typical volume of 35,444 call options.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Price Performance

XLB traded up $1.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.89. 35,865,919 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,258,703. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 1-year low of $36.56 and a 1-year high of $52.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.32.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ally Invest Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 3.9% during the second quarter. Ally Invest Advisors Inc. now owns 2,922 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 3.6% during the third quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its position in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 11.5% in the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Moment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 0.7% in the third quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 16,732 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,500,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.78% of the company’s stock.

About Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

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