Palantir Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) saw its stock downgraded by an analyst on Friday, resulting in a pullback of its shares. However, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest saw this as a buying opportunity and took advantage of the weakness by purchasing a substantial number of Palantir shares. In particular, Ark Invest’s flagship exchange-traded fund, the Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKK), bought over 777,000 Palantir shares, while Ark’s Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSE:ARKW) and Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKF) added a combined total of over 250,000 shares.
This buying spree by Ark Invest comes as Palantir’s stock declined by 1.66% to close at $15.98 on Friday. The total purchases made by Ark Invest now amount to over 1 million Palantir shares, with a total value of $16.49 million.
The downgrade of Palantir’s shares was initiated by Jefferies analyst Brent Thill, who lowered his rating from Neutral to Underperform and reduced the stock’s price target from $18 to $13. Thill’s downgrade was based on his belief that the stock had surged to unsustainable levels fueled by the AI hype. He also expressed concerns about Palantir’s lack of a credible monetization strategy and its slow demand recovery in its commercial and government businesses in 2024.
In addition to Palantir, Ark Invest also continued its selling spree of Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) shares, another popular holding in its portfolios. The firm liquidated over 133,000 Coinbase shares valued at $20.61 million. Ark Invest had been accumulating Coinbase shares throughout 2022 and early 2023, and the recent selling is attributed to profit-taking.
Despite the sell-off of Coinbase shares, Ark Invest remains bullish on Tesla, as indicated by Cathie Wood’s statement that the company is years ahead of its rivals despite some short-term growing pains.
In conclusion, Palantir’s stock was downgraded by an analyst, leading to a decline in its shares. However, Ark Invest saw this as an opportunity to buy more shares, adding to its already significant holdings. The firm also continued to sell Coinbase shares for profit-taking purposes. In the midst of these moves, Ark Invest remains positive on Tesla’s long-term prospects.
