Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest ETFs (exchange-traded funds) made million-dollar bets in the artificial intelligence (AI) and biotech sector on July 22. The ace hedge fund manager’s largest trade of the day was a $2.98 million purchase of Illumina (ILMN), a pioneer in DNA sequencing technologies. Meanwhile, Wood also boosted her position in Nvidia (NVDA), a long-time favorite in the AI space. On the sell side, ARK trimmed shares of Guardant Health (GH) and Rocket Lab USA (RKLB) for a second straight week.
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Why Wood Is Buying ILMN and NVDA Stocks
On Tuesday, ARK’s Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG) added 31,265 shares of Illumina, valued at nearly $2.98 million. Analyst Puneet Souda of Leerink Partners recently maintained a Buy rating on the stock and increased the price target to $120 from $115. The new price target reflects an upside potential of 18% from current levels. Wood appears to be doubling down on the long-term promise of precision medicine and gene sequencing. Notably, the stock closed 7% higher yesterday.
In addition to the Illumina buy, ARK also bought shares in the AI space. The ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX) scooped up 11,973 shares of Nvidia, worth about $2.05 million. This followed an earlier purchase on July 15, when ARKX acquired 2,999 shares valued at $492,045.
Despite Nvidia shares closing 3% lower on Tuesday, Wood’s consistent buying shows her strong belief in the company’s role in AI and advanced chip technology.
Let’s take a brief look at how these two stocks perform on TipRanks’ Stock Comparison Tool.
ARK Cuts Guardant and Rocket Lab Stakes
On the sell side, ARKG sold 68,228 shares of Guardant Health, worth over $3.11 million. Also, ARKX sold 43,481 shares of Rocket Lab, worth $2.05 million. This continues a recent trend of reducing its stake in RKLB.
Turning to Wall Street, Guardant Health stock scores a Strong Buy consensus rating, with the average GH stock price target of $61.38 indicating a 32.7% upside from current levels. Meanwhile, Rocket Lab USA also earns a Strong Buy consensus rating, with the average RKLB stock price target reflecting a 19.80% downside risk.
