Merit Financial Group LLC Has $100.72 Million Stock Position in iShares MBS ETF (NASDAQ:MBB)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares MBS ETF (NASDAQ:MBB) by 17.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,074,026 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 163,246 shares during the quarter. iShares MBS ETF makes up about 1.5% of Merit Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in iShares MBS ETF were worth $100,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of iShares MBS ETF by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 75,986,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,966,421,000 after buying an additional 1,826,521 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in iShares MBS ETF by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 51,720,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,741,789,000 after purchasing an additional 17,056,138 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in iShares MBS ETF by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,770,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,637,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,608 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in iShares MBS ETF by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,858,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,003,943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,668,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in iShares MBS ETF by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,701,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,806,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.70% of the company’s stock.

iShares MBS ETF Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MBB stock opened at $92.02 on Tuesday. iShares MBS ETF has a 52 week low of $90.28 and a 52 week high of $96.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.53.

iShares MBS ETF Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.3251 per share. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd.

About iShares MBS ETF

iShares MBS ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares Barclays MBS Bond Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results, which correspond to the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. MBS Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of investment grade mortgage-backed pass-through securities issued by the Government National Mortgage (GNMA).