Ark Invest further reduces its holdings of Coinbase stock, Barclays Bank downgrades to a sell rating with a target price of $70.

Recently, spurred by BlackRock's application for a Bitcoin spot ETF and the Ripple lawsuit, the stock price of the U.S. compliant exchange Coinbase has surged nearly 90% in the past month. However, the target prices given by various financial institutions are not as optimistic, and Ark Invest has also reduced its holdings in the stock for the third time.

Assessment of Coinbase by Various Financial Institutions

According to a report by CoinDesk, despite positive outlooks on Coinbase's future from various financial institutions, there is a significant difference in their price targets for the stock.

Barclays Bank adjusted COIN from equal weight to underweight, but raised the target price from $61 to $70. Due to ongoing low trading volume and USDC market value, as well as regulatory pressures, despite recent strong price increases driven by the Bitcoin spot ETF application and the Ripple lawsuit, Barclays Bank believes there are no other short-term positive factors.

JPMorgan stated:

Given Coinbase's market-leading position and respected reputation in the industry, Coinbase is in the best position to benefit from improved confidence and regulatory clarity.

Analyst John Todaro from Needham gave COIN a buy rating with a target price of $120, believing that the outcome of the Ripple case should moderately alleviate regulatory pressure on Coinbase's stock.

Ark Invest Reduces COIN Holdings Again

Ark Invest, which has always been a strong supporter of Coinbase, sold 248,838 shares of Coinbase stock on Monday, marking the third time in nearly a year that Ark has reduced its holdings of Coinbase stock, amounting to around $26 million. However, according to data from CNN, Ark remains the second-largest institutional holder with a 6.49% stake.

Founder Cathie Wood stated:

The fund simply took profits and reallocated the funds to some laggards.

Cathie Wood remains quite optimistic about Coinbase, mentioning that in March, when Coinbase received a Wells Notice and SEC lawsuit, its stock price did not hit a new low. Ark Invest actively added to its Coinbase holdings at that time at lower levels, and now with a significant rebound in stock price, Ark's selling is just a position adjustment.

According to TradingView data, Coinbase stock has risen 186% so far this year, currently priced at $104.59.