Short Interest in WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:WBTN) Grows By 19.6%

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:WBTN) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,750,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the April 30th total of 2,300,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 367,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WBTN. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of WEBTOON Entertainment from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on WEBTOON Entertainment from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on WEBTOON Entertainment in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $11.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on WEBTOON Entertainment from $13.00 to $10.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on WEBTOON Entertainment from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.36.

WEBTOON Entertainment Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of WBTN opened at $8.98 on Wednesday. WEBTOON Entertainment has a 12 month low of $6.75 and a 12 month high of $25.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $8.60 and its 200-day moving average is $10.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion and a PE ratio of -6.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Junkoo Kim bought 11,372 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.73 per share, for a total transaction of $99,277.56. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 498,812 shares in the company, valued at $4,354,628.76. This represents a 2.33% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEBTOON Entertainment

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBTN. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,034,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897,659 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of WEBTOON Entertainment during the 4th quarter worth $11,862,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in WEBTOON Entertainment by 1,404.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 523,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,990,000 after buying an additional 488,779 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in WEBTOON Entertainment by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 414,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,635,000 after buying an additional 2,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in WEBTOON Entertainment in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,033,000.

WEBTOON Entertainment Company Profile

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc operates a storytelling platform worldwide. The company’s platform allows a community of creators and users to discover, create, and share new content. Its platform offers stories primarily in two ways, including web-comics, a graphical comic-like medium; and web-novels, which are text-based stories.