Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSEARCA:XLP)

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLP) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 60,123 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 137% compared to the average volume of 25,398 put options.

Institutional Trading of Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XLP. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its position in Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 6,329 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund by 730.6% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,927 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,972 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new stake in Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund in the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 18,228 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the period.

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund Stock Up 1.7%

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund stock opened at $83.51 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82 and a beta of 0.53. Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 12-month low of $75.16 and a 12-month high of $84.35.

About Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded equity securities of companies in The Consumer Staples Select Sector Index (the Index).The Fund typically invests in substantially all of the securities represented in the Index in approximately the same proportions as the Index. Under normal market conditions, the Fund generally invests substantially all, but at least 95%, of its total assets in the securities consisting of the Index.