Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSEARCA:XLU)

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLU) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 43,119 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 14% compared to the average volume of 37,960 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XLU. 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 valued at $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 holdings in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 1.1% in the third 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 buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 0.3% in the third quarter. Paragon Financial Partners Inc. now owns 45,029 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $3,927,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, High Falls Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc now owns 4,754 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring 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 traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $47.21. The company had a trading volume of 13,760,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,394,488. The company has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.58 and a 200 day moving average of $43.70. Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 12 month low of $35.51 and a 12 month high of $47.31.

About Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund

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.