Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSEARCA:XLF)

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLF) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 400,491 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 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 large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XLF. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund by 266.7% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,000,000 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $452,210,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund by 31.2% during the 2nd 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 period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund by 29.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund by 6.6% in the 3rd 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 period.

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of XLF stock opened at $47.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.20. Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund has a 52 week low of $36.90 and a 52 week high of $51.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.83.

About Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund

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.