Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) Short Interest Up 7.3% in December

Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,760,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the December 15th total of 13,750,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 7,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Coupang Price Performance

CPNG stock opened at $22.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.46 and a 200-day moving average of $23.31. Coupang has a 12-month low of $13.51 and a 12-month high of $26.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $39.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 34.64 and a beta of 1.10.

Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.05. Coupang had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 11.52%. The company had revenue of $7.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Coupang will post 0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CPNG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Coupang from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Coupang from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coupang has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coupang

In related news, Director Greenoaks Capital Partners Llc purchased 687,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.08 per share, with a total value of $16,559,816.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 52,726,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,269,652,265.84. This represents a 1.32 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Bom Kim sold 15,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.97, for a total value of $344,550,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,940,000. This represents a 88.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 13.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coupang

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Coupang by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,100,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,182,000 after acquiring an additional 506,622 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Coupang by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 884,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,706,000 after purchasing an additional 24,553 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Coupang by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 759,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,640,000 after purchasing an additional 138,416 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Coupang by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 202,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,968,000 after purchasing an additional 58,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coupang during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $491,000. 83.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Coupang

Coupang, Inc, together with its subsidiaries owns and operates retail business through its mobile applications and Internet websites primarily in South Korea. The company operates through Product Commerce and Developing Offerings segments. It sells various products and services in the categories of home goods and décor products, apparel, beauty products, fresh food and groceries, sporting goods, electronics, and everyday consumables, as well as travel, and restaurant order and delivery services.