First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund (NASDAQ:MDIV) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in MDIV increased 133.5% to 7,882 shares as of October 15, up from 3,376 shares at the end of September. Despite the increase, short interest represents 0.0% of shares outstanding, with a days-to-cover ratio of 0.1.
• MDIV traded at $16.20, near the midpoint of its $15.52–$17.02 one-year range, while its market capitalization stood at approximately $417.3 million.
• The fund reduced its monthly dividend to $0.0772 from $0.0960, implying annualized dividends of about $0.93 and a 5.7% yield. Several investment firms also initiated or increased positions in MDIV during the third quarter.

First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund (NASDAQ:MDIV - ) saw a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,882 shares, a growth of 133.5% from the September 30th total of 3,376 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 56,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund Price Performance

First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $16.20. The company had a trading volume of 41,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,619. The company has a market capitalization of $417.28 million, a P/E ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 0.55. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $16.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.47. First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund has a 1 year low of $15.52 and a 1 year high of $17.02.

First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 21st will be given a $0.0772 dividend. This is a drop from First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund's previous monthly dividend of $0.0960. This represents a $0.93 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MDIV. Integrity Alliance LLC. purchased a new position in shares of First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund in the 3rd quarter valued at $394,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund in the 3rd quarter valued at $171,000. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new position in First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund in the third quarter valued at about $681,000. Columbia Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund by 224.6% during the third quarter. Columbia Advisory Partners LLC now owns 35,329 shares of the company's stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 24,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund by 10.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 16,781 shares of the company's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter.

About First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund

The Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund (MDIV) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in target outcome asset allocation. The fund tracks an index of equal-weighted US-listed securities, comprised of dividend-paying equities, REITs, preferred securities, MLPs, and a high-yield bond ETF. MDIV was launched on Aug 14, 2012 and is managed by First Trust.

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.