ARK Invest sells $90 million worth of Coinbase stock

Share this article

ARK Invest recently sold nearly 500,000 of its shares in Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) last Friday. The shares are worth an estimated $90 million and were divested from three of ARK Invest’s ETF offerings.

Data indicates that ARK Invest has sold 397,924 from ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), 45,433 shares from ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), and 55,792 shares from ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) for a total of 499,149 shares sold.

The stock sales were made after Coinbase received a downgrade to underweight based on a note from JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts led by Kenneth Worthington.

At the time, Worthington said their research suggests that “the catalyst in Bitcoin ETFs that has pushed the ecosystem out of its winter will disappoint market participants,” hence the decision to downgrade Coinbase from neutral to underweight. 

Coinbase shares have been gaining more than expected and rose by 27% last week, placing the stock at $180.31 and signaling the crypto exchange’s return to profitability, according to its Q4 2023 earnings report.

These results prompted analysts from KBW to upgrade the stock to market perform from underperform. KBW also raised the price target for Coinbase from $93 to $160. Analysts from Canaccord Genuity, JMP Securities, and Wedbush echoed the sentiment and followed suit, raising their respective price targets for the crypto exchange’s stock. 

ARK Invest has been one of the major institutional backers of Coinbase in recent years, and the reduction of its positions in Coinbase could reflect that the investment firm is preparing for further volatility that could impact its trading revenues. ARK also notably dumped nearly $7 million worth of Robinhood stock (NASDAQ: HOOD) on Friday as it reduces exposure to trading platforms.

Share this article