Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 19,922,682 shares, a decline of 13.7% from the January 15th total of 23,098,271 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 16,540,086 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 16.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 16.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 16,540,086 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XLB. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 112.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,499,014 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $340,080,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,016 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 99.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,210,960 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $236,317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,601,880 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 97.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,407,870 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $109,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188,168 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 107.5% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,093,364 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $94,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,000,940 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $90,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,420 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.78% of the company’s stock.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Price Performance

NYSEARCA XLB opened at $53.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.53 and a 200 day moving average of $45.88. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 1 year low of $36.56 and a 1 year high of $54.14.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Company Profile

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