Ford shares close higher on Friday, auto maker sells shares in Rivian worth $188 million

Ford Motor Co (F) said in a regulatory filing on Friday that it had sold 7 million shares of electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive Inc for $188.2 million ($26.88 per share).

This followed another announcement by the US auto maker on May 10th that it had sold 8 million shares of Rivian Automotive Inc for $214 million.

Currently, Ford holds 86.9 million shares in Rivian.

The electric car maker is facing intense competition, including from Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck.

Earlier this year Rivian cut its planned 2022 production by some 50% to 25,000 vehicles due to the supply chain crisis.

Ford Motor Co’s shares closed higher for the fourth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Friday. It has also been the sharpest single-session gain since January 4th. The stock went up 8.52% ($1.06) to $13.50, after touching an intraday high at $13.63. The latter has been a price level not seen since May 10th ($13.84).

Shares of Ford Motor Company have retreated 35.00% so far in 2022 compared with a 15.57% loss for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2021, Ford Motor Co’s stock went up 136.29%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 26.89% gain.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to TipRanks, at least 9 out of 18 surveyed investment analysts had rated Ford Motor Company’s stock as “Hold”, while 7 – as “Buy”. The median price target on the stock stands at $19.82.