(Reuters) – Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Inc (DJT) fell 4.5 percent in premarket trading on Friday as the Truth Social parent company continued its steep sell-off this week after a ban on insider trading expired.
The $2.9 billion company, 57% owned by Republican candidate Donald Trump, has seen its shares fall about 18% over the past four trading days and are down about 80% from their peak in April.
Trump, who currently owns shares worth $1.6 billion, said last week he has no plans to sell his stake and shifted his focus to other major shareholders who might sell their shares.
United Atlantic Ventures and Patrick Orlando run funds for ARC Global Investments II, the sponsor of the blank check company that merged with Trump Media in March, and together they own about 11% of Trump Media.
Currently, only a third of Trump Media’s shares are available for trading, so the sale is expected to shake up the stock price.
“Any renewed selling activity will not only have a direct impact on DJT’s share price, but it will also increase DJT’s share lending pool, encouraging increased short selling of the stock,” Igor Dusaniwski, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners, said in a note on Thursday.
Trump Media and Orlando did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The loss-making company’s shares last traded at $13.94 a share after insider trading restrictions expired after the market closed on Thursday.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadev Chakrabarti)
