First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEX) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest dropped 17.6% from March 15 to March 31 to 26,437 shares (about 0.2% of shares outstanding), giving a short-interest ratio of 1.4 days based on average daily volume.
• Northwestern Mutual massively increased its stake (up 6,734.7%) to 4,211,423 shares worth roughly $499.6 million, while other institutions like RBC, UBS, Bank of America and Osaic also modestly raised positions.
• The fund paid a quarterly dividend of $0.2942 on March 31 (annualized $1.18, yield 0.9%) and was trading at $127.95 with a market capitalization near $1.47 billion.

First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEX - ) saw a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 26,437 shares, a decline of 17.6% from the March 15th total of 32,070 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,865 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund by 6,734.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,211,423 shares of the company's stock worth $499,559,000 after buying an additional 4,149,805 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 228,883 shares of the company's stock worth $26,738,000 after buying an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 227,585 shares of the company's stock worth $25,029,000 after buying an additional 7,902 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 225,417 shares of the company's stock worth $26,738,000 after buying an additional 53,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 203,482 shares of the company's stock worth $23,771,000 after buying an additional 6,315 shares in the last quarter.

First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ FEX traded up $0.44 on Thursday, hitting $127.95. 56,437 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,981. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $124.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.85. The company has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 0.97. First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund has a 1-year low of $93.35 and a 1-year high of $128.37.

First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 26th were given a dividend of $0.2942 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 26th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%.

First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund Company Profile

First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the Defined Large Cap Core Index (the Index). The Index is an enhanced index created and administered by Standard & Poor's, which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the S&P 500 Index. Standard & Poor's constructs the Index by ranking the stocks from the S&P 500 Index on growth factors, including 3, 6 and 12-month price appreciation, sales to price and one-year sales growth, and separately on value factors, including book value to price, cash flow to price and return on assets.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.