iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) Shares Sold by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,855 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,226 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF were worth $1,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $265,000. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its holdings in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 10.8% in the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 73,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 7,199 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the third quarter valued at $4,145,000. Bank of Stockton lifted its stake in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 41.2% during the third quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 123,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,534,000 after purchasing an additional 36,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 4.8% during the third quarter. Sierra Capital LLC now owns 70,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,258 shares in the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFF opened at $31.14 on Thursday. iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF has a 1 year low of $28.15 and a 1 year high of $32.66. The firm has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.08.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.1596 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st.

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.