Cathie Wood-led Ark Invest scooped up 15,858 shares, estimated to be worth $10.7 million, in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) amid the stock's recent fall in the backdrop of production issues in China and CEO Elon Musk's impending takeover of Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR).
Tesla shares closed 1.6% lower at $674.9 on Monday and have declined over 32% over a month and over 40% since April 4, when Musk revealed a significant stake in Twitter.
This is Ark Invest’s first purchase of Tesla stock since late February and after months of profit-booking before the EV maker was hit by strict COVID-19 curbs in Shanghai.
Growing competition in the sector and Musk’s Twitter soap opera have also contributed to the stock weakness.
St. Petersburg, Florida-based Ark Invest owns shares in Tesla through three of its six actively traded exchange funds: Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK), Ark Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (NYSE: ARKQ), and Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSE: ARKW).
The three ETFs held 1.27 million shares worth $846.6 million in Tesla before Thursday’s trade.
The value of Tesla holdings that Ark Invest owns has shrunk by more than half since the beginning of the year.
Long-time Tesla bull Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, last week lowered his price target for Tesla to $1,000 from $1,400, citing the issues in China.
Other key Ark Invest trades on Monday:
- Bought 91,868 shares — estimated to be worth $6 million— in Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN). Shares of the crypto-trading platform closed marginally down to $66.1 on Monday.
- Bought 99,388 shares — estimated to be worth $8.87 million — in Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ: ZM). Shares closed 0.46% lower at $89.3.
