First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEP) Sees Large Volume Increase - Here's Why

Key Points

• Trading volume surged 300% to approximately 115,725 shares, while FEP shares fell 1.7% to $57.09.
• First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3254 per share, down from $0.7986 previously, implying an annualized yield of about 2.3%.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings, including First Trust Advisors, which raised its stake by 52.5%, and Gateway Wealth Partners, which increased its position by 112.7%.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEP - ) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday. Approximately 115,725 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 300% from the previous session's volume of 28,924 shares. The stock last traded at $57.0890 and had previously closed at $57.71.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Stock Down 1.7%

The stock has a market cap of $507.91 million, a P/E ratio of -85.98 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $59.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.02.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th will be given a dividend of $0.3254 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 24th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a drop from First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.7986. First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund's payout ratio is currently -263.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 52.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,079,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,963,000 after purchasing an additional 371,900 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 112.7% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 49,250 shares of the company's stock worth $2,690,000 after buying an additional 26,096 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund in the 1st quarter worth $1,283,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 9.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 120,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,598,000 after buying an additional 9,965 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 3.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 298,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,027,000 after buying an additional 9,002 shares during the period.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Company Profile

The First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (FEP) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX Europe index. The fund tracks a tiered equal-weighted index of 200 companies selected from the S&P Europe BMI based on the S&P's AlphaDex selection methodology. FEP was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.

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