John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE:PDT) Short Interest Up 58.3% in December

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE:PDT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 36,100 shares, an increase of 58.3% from the November 30th total of 22,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 120,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days.

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Price Performance

Shares of PDT stock opened at $12.50 on Monday. John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund has a twelve month low of $10.41 and a twelve month high of $13.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.61.

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a $0.0825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.92%.

Institutional Trading of John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 1.7% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 120,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 2,041 shares during the period. Shaker Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 81.8% during the 2nd quarter. Shaker Financial Services LLC now owns 212,585 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,504,000 after purchasing an additional 95,639 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 56,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 3,101 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 17,921 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 11.0% in the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 484,495 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,707,000 after buying an additional 48,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.98% of the company’s stock.

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Company Profile

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors, with an emphasis on the utilities sector.