First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:FTLS) Short Interest Up 167.2% in August

First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:FTLS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 237,590 shares, an increase of 167.2% from the August 15th total of 88,908 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 125,838 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF Price Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA:FTLS traded down $0.29 during trading on Monday, hitting $76.27. 96,730 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 116,561. First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF has a 52-week low of $67.94 and a 52-week high of $77.52. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.66. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59 and a beta of 0.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,397,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,200,000 after buying an additional 149,648 shares during the period. Entelevest LLC purchased a new stake in First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF in the fourth quarter worth about $889,000. Hyundai Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF in the fourth quarter worth about $512,000. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF during the 1st quarter worth about $1,270,000. Finally, Concorde Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC now owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter.

About First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF

The First Trust Long\u002FShort Equity ETF (FTLS) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in long\u002Fshort alternatives. The fund takes both long and short position in US-listed equity with US and foreign exposure. The actively managed funds will typically be 90-100% long and 0-50% short. FTLS was launched on Sep 9, 2014 and is managed by First Trust.