Short Interest in First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund (NASDAQ:MDIV) Declines By 83.3%

Key Points

• Short interest in MDIV plunged to 15,773 shares as of July 15, an 83.3% drop from late June, leaving about 0.1% of the fund’s shares sold short.
• Institutional investors increased holdings in the ETF, led by Ameriprise Financial, which raised its stake by 147% in the second quarter.
• The fund paid a monthly dividend of $0.0684 per share, set to be distributed on July 31, implying an annualized yield of 4.9%.

First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund (NASDAQ:MDIV - ) was the target of a large decline in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 15,773 shares, a decline of 83.3% from the June 30th total of 94,495 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 71,099 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund by 147.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,538,244 shares of the company's stock worth $24,348,000 after buying an additional 915,595 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 582,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,159,000 after acquiring an additional 17,582 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 564,283 shares of the company's stock worth $9,124,000 after acquiring an additional 6,656 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 419,475 shares of the company's stock worth $6,783,000 after acquiring an additional 9,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 418,547 shares of the company's stock worth $6,580,000 after acquiring an additional 31,184 shares in the last quarter.

First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund Stock Performance

Shares of First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $16.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 71,517. The company has a market capitalization of $428.50 million, a P/E ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 0.54. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $16.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.46. First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund has a one year low of $15.52 and a one year high of $17.00.

First Trust Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.0684 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 21st.

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.

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