Why Shares of Enphase Energy Stock Fell 17% in December
After rising more than 4% in November, shares of Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH) found themselves considerably less desirable among investors in December -- a month in which the stock fell 17.4%, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
In addition to an analyst's downgrade on Enphase's stock, insider selling motivated investors to exit their positions in the last month of trading before the new year.
While Enphase traded flat for the first couple of weeks in December, the bears started growling on Dec. 15, when Biju Perincheril, an analyst at Susquehanna, downgraded the stock to neutral from positive and assigned it a price target of $365. According to TheFly.com, Perincheril predicated the stock's downgrade on the belief that it had reached a "relatively rich valuation" and was "now priced for near perfection."
Oftentimes, when those in the C-suite sell shares in the companies they lead, investors take note. And that's exactly what played out last month. In a regulatory filing, Enphase reported on Dec. 13 that CEO Badri Kothandaraman sold 82,347 shares, netting himself about $26.1 million. Days later, investors learned that the selling spree for Kothandaraman continued. On Dec. 16, a regulatory filing revealed that he sold 36,327 shares for about $11.9 million.
Source Fool.com