iShares Semiconductor ETF Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:SOXX)

iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 14,676 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 39% compared to the average volume of 10,577 call options.

iShares Semiconductor ETF Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of SOXX stock opened at $378.63 on Friday. iShares Semiconductor ETF has a 1 year low of $160.26 and a 1 year high of $378.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $344.65 and its 200-day moving average is $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84 and a beta of 1.53.

iShares Semiconductor ETF Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.2079 per share. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares Semiconductor ETF

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of iShares Semiconductor ETF during the third quarter worth $646,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of iShares Semiconductor ETF by 34.3% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,167 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $3,841,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. increased its position in shares of iShares Semiconductor ETF by 4.6% during the third quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. now owns 159,111 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $43,138,000 after acquiring an additional 6,953 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in shares of iShares Semiconductor ETF by 66.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 10,024 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $2,718,000 after acquiring an additional 4,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares Semiconductor ETF during the third quarter worth $2,468,000.

About iShares Semiconductor ETF

iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF, formerly iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the United States-listed semiconductor stocks as represented by the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index (the Index). The Index is an equity benchmark for the United States-listed semiconductor stocks. The Index includes companies primarily involved in the design, distribution, manufacture and sale of semiconductors.