JPMorgan Just Bought Bumble (BMBL) Stock. Here’s Why.

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Shares of Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) have skyrocketed over 60% in the past one month after the dating app company reported fourth-quarter earnings on March 8. However, despite the price acceleration, a major investment bank still believes BMBL stock presents an attractive long-term opportunity.

BUMBLE (BMBL) app on a smartphone
Source: XanderSt / Shutterstock.com

Here’s what investors should know about Bumble moving forward.

JPMorgan Buys BMBL Stock

On April 5, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) received an amended 13G filing from JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM). According to the form, JPM purchased 3.5 million shares of BMBL stock on March 31. After the purchase, the investment bank now owns 13.49 million shares of the company. What’s more, JPMorgan is now the second-largest shareholder of Bumble based on available Q4 data from filings.

As of Q4, JPMorgan manages more than $865 billion in assets under management (AUM) according to WhaleWisdom. On top of that, the bank operates as a long-term investor, with an average holding period of 24.15 quarters.

So, why did JPMorgan decide to purchase shares of Bumble? While shares of the online dating company are up over the past month, the stock is still down more than 60% from its initial public offering (IPO) last year. The bank was also likely impressed by Bumble’s Q4 earnings. For the period, the company reported revenue of $150.5 million from its app, up 42% year-over-year (YOY). Furthermore, paying users on the app grew by 29% YOY to 1.6 million users. That’s an increase of 108,000 users from the prior quarter.

Who Else Is Betting Big on Bumble?

Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large funds provide liquidity and price support for stocks. During Q4, 213 funds reported owning Bumble, a decrease of 17 funds from the previous quarter. Additionally, 54 funds reported initiating a new position in BMBL stock while 69 funds closed out their position. Meanwhile, the institutional put/call ratio tallies in at 0.84. That signifies that more funds own call options against Bumble than put options.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the largest shareholders of the company:

  1. Blackstone (NYSE:BX): 43.18 million shares or 33.35% ownership.
  2. JPMorgan: 13.49 million shares or 10.42% ownership.
  3. Vanguard Group: 7.21 million shares or 5.57% ownership.
  4. Winslow Capital Management: 5.29 million shares or 4.08% ownership.
  5. Accel Growth Fund: 5.05 million shares or 3.90% ownership.

It should be noted that Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd and Blackstone Holdings III also hold 123.58 million shares and 102.91 million shares, respectively. However, Herd’s position is only accurate as of Q1 2021 and Blackstone Holding III’s position is accurate as of Q3 2021. According to WhaleWisdom, the two parties have not yet submitted an updated share count as of the fourth quarter.

On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/04/jpmorgan-just-bought-bumble-bmbl-stock-heres-why/.

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