Short Interest in First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FDT) Decreases By 77.3%

Key Points

• Short interest in FDT plunged 77.3% in July, falling to 29,039 shares as of July 15 from 128,116 shares at the end of June. That leaves about 0.2% of shares sold short and a very low short-interest ratio of 0.3 days.
• The ETF was trading slightly lower, opening at $90.75 and down 0.5% on the day. It has a market cap of $1.28 billion, with a 50-day moving average of $95.34 and a 200-day moving average of $92.16.
• FDT recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.7816 per share, up from $0.33 previously. The payout annualizes to $3.13 per share, for a yield of 3.4%.

First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FDT - ) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 29,039 shares, a decline of 77.3% from the June 30th total of 128,116 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 110,394 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days.

First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund stock opened at $90.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $95.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.16. First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund has a 1-year low of $69.02 and a 1-year high of $101.32.

First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were issued a dividend of $0.7816 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $3.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund by 352.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 588 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 529 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund by 223.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 591 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund during the 2nd quarter worth about $76,000.

First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund Company Profile

The First Trust Developed Markets Ex-US AlphaDEX Fund (FDT) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX DM Ex-US index. The fund tracks an index of international, developed-market stocks, selected by growth and value factors and equal-weighted in tiers. FDT was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.

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