Investors Purchase Large Volume of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund Call Options (NYSEARCA:XLU)

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLU) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 168,000 call options on the company. This is an increase of 330% compared to the typical volume of 39,054 call options.

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund Stock Performance

Shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $39.31. 14,219,928 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,068,494. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74 and a beta of 0.57. Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 1 year low of $39.13 and a 1 year high of $47.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XLU. Basso Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Basso Capital Management L.P. now owns 884 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,434 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,918 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 626 Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 10,032 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Capital Advisors llc grew its holdings in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 60,730 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $2,753,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. 90.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.