WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:WBTN) Short Interest Up 19.6% in May

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

WEBTOON Entertainment Stock Performance

WEBTOON Entertainment stock opened at $8.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $8.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.57. WEBTOON Entertainment has a 1 year low of $6.75 and a 1 year high of $25.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion and a P/E ratio of -6.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Junkoo Kim bought 11,372 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.73 per share, for a total transaction of $99,277.56. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 498,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,354,628.76. This trade represents a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEBTOON Entertainment

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in WEBTOON Entertainment in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in WEBTOON Entertainment during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in WEBTOON Entertainment during the 3rd quarter worth $75,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych acquired a new stake in WEBTOON Entertainment during the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in WEBTOON Entertainment by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the last quarter.

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.