Traders Buy High Volume of iShares Select Dividend ETF Call Options (NASDAQ:DVY)

iShares Select Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DVY) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 7,851 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,376% compared to the average daily volume of 532 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares Select Dividend ETF

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in iShares Select Dividend ETF by 1,771.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,385,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $901,247,000 after acquiring an additional 6,044,290 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF by 745.9% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 505,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,373,000 after purchasing an additional 445,910 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF by 178.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 645,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,763,000 after purchasing an additional 413,908 shares in the last quarter. Align Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,639,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in iShares Select Dividend ETF by 3.3% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,096,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,150,568,000 after purchasing an additional 256,434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.08% of the company’s stock.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Price Performance

NASDAQ:DVY traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $155.84. The company had a trading volume of 122,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,022. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $153.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.83. The company has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.66. iShares Select Dividend ETF has a 52 week low of $130.63 and a 52 week high of $160.38.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $1.2472 per share. This represents a $4.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from iShares Select Dividend ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15.

iShares Select Dividend ETF Company Profile

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.