Reddit-Fueled Rally In Mall Stock Allows Its Largest Investor To Cash Out

Macerich Co MAC, a real estate investment trust focused on shopping malls, has been one of the beneficiaries of the short squeeze rally led by Reddit community WallStreetBets.

With Macerich stock surging 109.7% year-to-date to $22.38 on Wednesday, its largest investor Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan cashed out, Bloomberg reports.

What Happened: GameStop Corp. GME, BlackBerry Ltd. BB, Nokia Oyj NOK and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. AMC have been seeing sky-high interest on WallStreetBets, but several Redditors are seeking alternatives.

Macerich has one of the stocks with high traction on the subreddit this week, according to data compiled by Swaggystocks.

Why It Matters: Taking advantage of the resultant price surge and high trading volume due to the social media interest, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan sold its entire stake of 24.56 million Macerich shares at $20.25 each, as per a regulatory filing.

The fund’s stake amounted to 16.4% of the company before the sale.

A spokesperson for OTPP told Bloomberg that the fund looked to move forward and focus “on scaling and diversifying our global real estate platform, and growing our existing Canadian real estate business.”

Price Action: Macerich stock closed 15% lower at $19.01 on Thursday and surged 2.3% after-hours.