Traders Purchase High Volume of Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund Call Options (NYSEARCA:XLF)

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLF) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 400,491 call options on the company. This is an increase of 75% compared to the average daily volume of 228,957 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XLF. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund by 4.0% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 13,783,914 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $566,657,000 after buying an additional 525,305 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund by 266.7% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,000,000 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $452,210,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000,000 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund by 31.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,798,325 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $443,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,566,731 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund by 29.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,603,914 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $480,569,000 after purchasing an additional 2,430,124 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund by 6.6% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 10,328,231 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $468,075,000 after purchasing an additional 640,070 shares during the last quarter.

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund Price Performance

XLF stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $48.11. 33,965,484 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,882,746. Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 52-week low of $36.90 and a 52-week high of $51.62. The company has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.18.

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund Company Profile

The Fund seeks to provide investors with a low-cost passive approach for investing in a portfolio of equity securities of firms as represented by the Financial Select Sector Index.