Investors Buy Large Volume of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Call Options (NYSEARCA:XLB)

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 205,867 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 481% compared to the typical daily volume of 35,444 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XLB. Silicon Valley Capital Partners bought a new stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 488.2% in the second quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 300 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 578 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 600 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.78% of the company’s stock.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Stock Up 2.3%

NYSEARCA XLB traded up $1.19 on Wednesday, hitting $51.89. The stock had a trading volume of 35,865,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,258,703. The company’s 50-day moving average is $46.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.32. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a one year low of $36.56 and a one year high of $52.02. The stock has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 1.03.

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