First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) Short Interest Update

First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 45,400 shares, a decline of 60.0% from the February 13th total of 113,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 307,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Senior Loan ETF

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTSL. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,919,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,752,000 after purchasing an additional 369,005 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,861,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,064,000 after purchasing an additional 72,249 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,506,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,646,000 after purchasing an additional 148,507 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF during the 4th quarter worth about $66,923,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,112,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,437,000 after purchasing an additional 140,722 shares during the period.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Price Performance

NASDAQ:FTSL traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $45.91. 92,373 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 302,721. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.20 and a 200 day moving average of $46.18. First Trust Senior Loan ETF has a twelve month low of $45.23 and a twelve month high of $46.99.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.2625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st.

About First Trust Senior Loan ETF

The First Trust Senior Loan Fund (FTSL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S&P\u002FLSTA U.S. Leveraged Loan 100 index. The fund holds senior floating rate bank loans from firms around the globe. The actively managed fund can hold up to 20% of assets in non-senior loans, including high-yield bonds and equities.