iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 865,888 shares, a decline of 30.3% from the February 26th total of 1,242,436 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 483,545 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Price Performance

Shares of DVY traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $149.50. The stock had a trading volume of 339,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 559,317. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $152.37 and its 200 day moving average is $145.40. The firm has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.77. iShares Select Dividend ETF has a 1 year low of $115.94 and a 1 year high of $160.38.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a $1.1493 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in iShares Select Dividend ETF during the third quarter valued at $1,585,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF in the second quarter worth about $1,405,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 128,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,287,000 after acquiring an additional 13,536 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,595,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 329,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,870,000 after acquiring an additional 16,296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.08% of the company’s stock.

About iShares Select Dividend ETF

iShares Select Dividend ETF, formerly iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of a selected group of equity securities issued by companies that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time. The Index consists of 100 of the highest dividend-yielding securities (excluding real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the Dow Jones U.S.