Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSEARCA:XLB)

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 198,579 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 422% compared to the typical volume of 38,049 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XLB. Compass Wealth Management LLC GA raised its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 6.4% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC GA now owns 26,207 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568 shares during the period. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. now owns 1,636,350 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $146,650,000 after purchasing an additional 670,000 shares during the period. Nelson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 13,462 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Acorns Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund in the 3rd quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 454.6% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 14,502 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 11,887 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.78% of the company’s stock.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Stock Up 0.4%

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund stock opened at $51.02 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.18. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a twelve month low of $42.03 and a twelve month high of $54.14. The company has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 0.92.

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