First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NASDAQ:QQEW) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NASDAQ:QQEW) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 71,100 shares, an increase of 30.7% from the August 15th total of 54,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 76,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QQEW. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 67.2% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 8,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund in the fourth quarter valued at $5,872,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 131.7% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 10,695 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 37,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,444,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,466,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,237,000 after acquiring an additional 268,754 shares during the last quarter.

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund Price Performance

Shares of First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Monday, hitting $123.10. 52,149 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 101,666. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $121.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.80. First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund has a 12-month low of $97.55 and a 12-month high of $127.83.

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.2243 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%.

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund Company Profile

The First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (QQEW) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ-100 Equally Weighted index. The fund tracks an equal-weighted version of the NASDAQ 100. QQEW was launched on Apr 19, 2006 and is managed by First Trust.