iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) Short Interest Up 20.4% in October

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,100,000 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the October 15th total of 8,390,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,541,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hilton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,444,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,009,000 after acquiring an additional 239,661 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the second quarter worth approximately $6,851,000. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the third quarter worth approximately $4,669,000. One Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 1,100.4% during the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 143,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,541,000 after purchasing an additional 131,945 shares during the period. Finally, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,488,000. 4.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Price Performance

NASDAQ PFF traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $32.59. 3,298,725 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,020,479. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.19. iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF has a 52-week low of $29.83 and a 52-week high of $33.59. The company has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.51.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.1653 per share. This is an increase from iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF’s previous monthly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.09%.

About iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF

iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results, which correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (the Underlying Index). The Underlying Index measures the performance of a select group of preferred stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NYSE Arca, Inc (NYSE Arca), NYSE Amex, NASDAQ Global Select Market, NASDAQ Select Market or NASDAQ Capital Market.