Insight to Twitter’s recent share decline

Some of the recent decline in the value of Twitter’s (NYSE:TWTR) stock got some clarity when it was revealed that one of its biggest investors dumped a quarter of their holdings in the first quarter of the year.

This was included in the 15 May regulatory filing of T. Rowe Group Inc which stated that they had got rid of 4.65 million Twitter shares. Twitter shares have been having a rough time as the value has plummeted by around 50 percent since the start of the year. This latest revelation comes after several of the company’s senior management disposed of large chunks of their holdings at the end of the lockup period earlier this month.

This was in sharp contrast to many of the largest shareholders who had been very vocal about their intention to hold on to their stock ahead of the lockup expiry. T. Rowe Price declined to comment about the sale of the shares. Even without this large block of shares, T. Rowe Price still remains the 12th largest Twitter shareholder with 2.3 percent of the outstanding shares. The remaining Twitter shares are held in various funds, and the biggest stake of 4.61 million, is held in T. Rowe Price’s New Horizons Fund, managed by Henry Ellenbogan. However, that fund did not sell any shares.

T. Rowe Price is not however showing a broader concern with social media stock as it acquired 5.8 million Facebook shares over the same period. The fall in the value of Twitter stock has been largely attributed to the decline in the pace that it is gaining new users. Many investors feel this signals that Twitters’ popularity is peaking.