Cathie Wood's Ark Invest Piles Up Another $15.8M In Gingko On Dip Amid Short-Seller Allegations

Cathie Wood-led Ark Invest on Friday snapped up more shares in Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc DNA on the dip.

The popular money manager’s investment firm snapped up 1.53 million shares — estimated to be worth $15.86 million — in the synthetic biology stock that was hit hard last week by two back-to-back short-seller reports that called the company a “colossal scam” and “a scheme.”

Shares of Ginkgo Bioworks, which have fallen 10.3% in the past week, closed 7.93% lower at $10.33 on Friday. 

Ark Invest has been piling up shares in Ginkgo Bioworks, a company that specializes in using genetic engineering to produce bacteria with industrial applications since it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange last month.

The asset management firm bought the shares in Gingko via the Ark Genomic Revolution ETF ARKG. The Ark Innovation ETF ARKK also owns shares in the company.

The two ETFs together held 34.26 million shares — worth $384.43 million — in Ginkgo Bioworks as of Friday’s trade. 

Besides Wood, Bill Gates is the other known high-profile investor in the biotech company whose shares dived last week after short-seller Scorpion Capital alleged the company is a "Frankenstein mash-up of the worst frauds." 

A little later, Citron Research said the company’s recent $24 billion valuation is absurd given it raised capital in 2020 at roughly a $5 billion valuation.

See Also: Cathie Wood Sells $49.4M In Tesla And Buys $87.5M In Ginkgo Bioworks On Dip As Stock Becomes Target Of Short Sellers

Here are some of the other key trades for Ark on Friday:

Sold 85,487 shares — estimated to be worth $20.39 million — in Square Inc SQ. Shares of the company closed 4.28% lower at $238.49 on Friday.

Sold 14,420 shares — estimated to be worth $916,967 — in BYD Co BYDDY on the day shares of the Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B)-backed company closed 1.72% lower at $63.59.