By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – Shares in Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) were trading lower in pre-market on Thursday after shareholders filed to sell up to 97.9 million shares over time. The company will not receive proceeds from the share sales.
The shareholders in question are groups, such as venture capital firms, that were early investors in Robinhood prior to going public.
Some of the shareholders in question include Andreessen Horowitz and 9Yards Capital.
Share price rally
The news comes as Robinhood shares surged over the last few trading days in moves that echo those of GameStop (NYSE:GME) early this year.
The company has been tagged as a “meme stock” and has been popular on social media platforms and forums, such as Reddit’s WallStreetBets.
After a disappointing IPO, which saw the stock fall by half on its first trading day, the last two trading sessions have seen shares almost double from around $36 per share to over $70 per share.
According to Quiver Quantitative, a tracking firm that scours social media, Robinhood was the most discussed company on the WallStreetBets subreddit over the most recent trading days.
Cathie Wood
Some analysts have pointed to support from ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood as a reason for the surge in share price recently.
Wood’s ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (NYSE:ARKF) announced it had bought 89,622 shares on 3rd August with the stock accounting for around 1% of the portfolio.
At 13:15BST, Robinhood shares are down 7.5% in pre-market trade at $65.00 per share.