Short Interest in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEX) Drops By 57.4%

Key Points

• Short interest plunged 57.4% to 11,268 shares as of April 15, equal to about 0.1% of shares sold short and a days-to-cover ratio of 0.7.
• The fund traded down to $129.45 (‑0.5%), has a market cap of $1.48B and a P/E of 17.76, and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.2942 (annualized $1.18, 0.9% yield).
• Institutional buying increased—UBS holds 203,482 shares (~$23.77M) while firms like NewEdge, Equitable and Magnolia added or initiated positions.

First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEX - ) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 11,268 shares, a drop of 57.4% from the March 31st total of 26,437 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,117 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.7 days.

First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund Trading Down 0.5%

First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund stock traded down $0.60 on Friday, hitting $129.45. 8,402 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,535. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 0.97. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $125.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.40. First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund has a 1 year low of $98.40 and a 1 year high of $130.77.

First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund Cuts Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund by 27.5% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,284 shares of the company's stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 1,355 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund by 3.2% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 203,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,771,000 after buying an additional 6,315 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund by 7.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,894,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund by 105.9% during the fourth quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $730,000 after buying an additional 3,165 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund during the fourth quarter valued at $224,000.

About First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund

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.

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