Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSEARCA:XLB)

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLB) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 282,461 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 686% compared to the typical volume of 35,927 put options.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund Price Performance

XLB opened at $53.62 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.58. The firm has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 1.03. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 1 year low of $36.56 and a 1 year high of $53.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XLB. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 99.7% in 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 in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,093,364 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $94,934,000 after buying an additional 1,084,700 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 100.0% during 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 last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,640,000 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $74,374,000 after buying an additional 820,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. grew its stake in shares of Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund by 69.3% in the third quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. now owns 1,636,350 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $146,650,000 after acquiring an additional 670,000 shares during the period. 75.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund

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