First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NASDAQ:QQEW) Short Interest Down 35.4% in March

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NASDAQ:QQEW - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 57,500 shares, a drop of 35.4% from the March 15th total of 89,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 142,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days.

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund Stock Performance

Shares of QQEW stock traded down $2.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $119.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 80,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,621. First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund has a 52-week low of $95.93 and a 52-week high of $124.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $122.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06 and a beta of 1.18.

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.2153 per share. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,925,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,206,000 after acquiring an additional 137,099 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 22.4% during the 4th 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 5,336.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,218,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $143,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,446 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 751,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,122,000 after acquiring an additional 26,419 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 663,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,971,000 after acquiring an additional 233,202 shares during the period.

About First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund

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.

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