First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NASDAQ:QQEW) Short Interest Down 47.5% in March

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (NASDAQ:QQEW) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 62,600 shares, a decrease of 47.5% from the February 28th total of 119,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 76,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund in the fourth quarter valued at about $119,160,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 856,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,003,000 after buying an additional 92,847 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 285,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,638,000 after buying an additional 53,231 shares during the last quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 193,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 193,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,143,000 after acquiring an additional 31,219 shares during the last quarter.

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund Price Performance

NASDAQ QQEW traded down $2.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $121.13. 50,173 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 79,157. First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund has a 12-month low of $113.15 and a 12-month high of $136.19. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.79.

First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 27th will be paid a $0.1529 dividend. This is an increase from First Trust NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted Index Fund’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%.

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.