Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLU)

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLU) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 43,489 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 18% compared to the average daily volume of 36,812 call options.

Institutional Trading of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XLU. New Millennium Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co increased its position in Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 600 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Davis Capital Management raised its holdings in Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 602 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 109.9% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 640 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 90.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund Price Performance

NYSEARCA:XLU traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $43.26. 9,547,793 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,557,080. The firm has a market cap of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74 and a beta of 0.58. Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 52-week low of $41.15 and a 52-week high of $47.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.26.

Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund Company Profile

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.