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Coinbase Stock Tumbles as Cathie Wood Sells Some Shares

By Jon Quast – Dec 3, 2021 at 12:22PM

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However, it's still the third-largest position in the Ark Innovation ETF.

What happened

Shares of cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase Global (COIN -1.75%) dropped on Friday along with many other high-growth stocks. Given the amount of stocks that are down today, Coinbase is likely simply sinking with the entire stock market ship today. However, it is worth noting that popular portfolio manager Cathie Wood sold some shares in her Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK -0.28%). As of 11 a.m. ET, Coinbase stock was down 7%.

So what

The Ark Innovation ETF holds shares in 45 different companies. But it's a particularly big fan of Coinbase as evidenced by its large position -- Coinbase stock makes up 5.43% of the fund's holdings. That position is a little lighter than what it was yesterday, though. According to Cathie's Ark (a website that's not affiliated with Ark Invest) the Ark Innovation ETF sold a little more than 170,000 shares of Coinbase yesterday.

A person appears frustrated by something they see on a computer screen.

Image source: Getty Images.

Considering Wood's clout among retail investors, it's possible the move to sell some shares was enough to worry more than a few people today.

Now what

However, it's important to remember that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are actively managed and day-to-day holdings change frequently. Moreover, selling 170,000 shares is really quite insignificant considering it still holds almost 3.3 million shares.

For these reasons, Ark Invest's move to sell shares isn't material information for shareholders. For that matter, neither is the broader market sell-off today. Coinbase stock can have down days like today and will likely have many more in coming years. But if the business continues to grow profitably as it has in the past, then it could still be a long-term winner.

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