Shopify (SHOP) shares plummeted 5.05% in Friday's intraday trading session, following news that Kessler Investment Group has fully exited its position in the e-commerce giant. The Indiana-based investment firm sold approximately $7 million worth of Shopify shares, completely divesting its stake in the company.
According to an SEC filing released on Thursday, Kessler Investment Group sold all 60,498 shares of Shopify it previously held. This position had accounted for 2.9% of the fund's assets under management (AUM). The sale comes after Shopify's stock has seen a remarkable 98% increase over the past year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's 16% gain during the same period.
While Shopify's fundamentals remain strong, with the company reporting 31% revenue growth to $2.7 billion and a 16% free cash flow margin in its second-quarter earnings, the stock's premium valuation compared to its e-commerce peers may have influenced Kessler's decision to exit. The move by Kessler Investment Group to rotate into more diversified tech holdings such as Alphabet, CrowdStrike, Dell, Roku, and Arista Networks suggests a strategy of portfolio rebalancing after Shopify's extraordinary run. This high-profile sale appears to have triggered a sell-off, leading to today's sharp decline in Shopify's stock price.