Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of iShares Semiconductor ETF Put Options (NASDAQ:SOXX)

iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 49,561 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 29% compared to the typical daily volume of 38,560 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares Semiconductor ETF

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SOXX. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in iShares Semiconductor ETF by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,904,638 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $874,732,000 after buying an additional 941,363 shares during the period. Oasis Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of iShares Semiconductor ETF by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. Oasis Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,100 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 804,400 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of iShares Semiconductor ETF by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,368,608 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $713,307,000 after acquiring an additional 547,109 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of iShares Semiconductor ETF by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,115,278 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,023,867,000 after acquiring an additional 538,125 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in iShares Semiconductor ETF by 5,159.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 451,617 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $136,005,000 after purchasing an additional 443,030 shares in the last quarter.

iShares Semiconductor ETF Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of SOXX traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $581.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,843,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,279,269. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $564.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84 and a beta of 1.77. iShares Semiconductor ETF has a 1-year low of $232.33 and a 1-year high of $655.95.

iShares Semiconductor ETF Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.2827 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from iShares Semiconductor ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th.

iShares Semiconductor ETF Company Profile

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.