Short Interest in First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NASDAQ:QQEW) Decreases By 70.3%

First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NASDAQ:QQEW - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 40,800 shares, a drop of 70.3% from the May 15th total of 137,200 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 102,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days.

First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund Stock Performance

QQEW stock traded down $2.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $131.85. 68,407 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 89,255. First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund has a 1-year low of $104.28 and a 1-year high of $136.19. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $125.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.76.

First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 27th were issued a $0.1529 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 27th. This is an increase from First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%.

Institutional Trading of First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in QQEW. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $119,160,000. Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new stake in shares of First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,108,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 856,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,003,000 after purchasing an additional 92,847 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,223,000. Finally, Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 35.6% in the first quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 262,357 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,727,000 after purchasing an additional 68,853 shares during the last quarter.

About First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund

The First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (QQEW) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ-100 Equally Weighted index. The fund tracks an equal-weighted version of the NASDAQ 100. QQEW was launched on Apr 19, 2006 and is managed by First Trust.