BlackRock, Vanguard’s big buyers of Trump Media shares in Q2, the filings show

By David Randall

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A handful of institutional investors bought large positions in former President Donald Trump’s media company in the second quarter ahead of the company’s inclusion in two Russell indices, regulatory filings released on Wednesday showed.

Among the biggest buyers of shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the Truth Social platform, were asset managers Vanguard, State Street and BlackRock, which are known for their passive investment businesses. These include exchange-traded funds that buy shares of companies included in a wide range of indices they track.

Vanguard Group initiated a new position by purchasing nearly 2.9 million shares of Trump Media, with a market value of about $94.3 million at the end of the quarter, the documents show. BlackRock initiated a new position with the purchase of nearly 2.2 million shares, while State Street initiated a new position with just over 440,000 shares.

Trump Media & Technology was added to the Russell 1000 and Russell 3000 in late June, the last day of the latest regulatory disclosure period. Index firms often buy shares of companies they expect to be added to an index before their official inclusion, market participants said.

Other buyers of Trump Media included hedge fund Greenwich Wealth Management, with a new position of 350,000 shares. Hudson Bay Capital Management added about 52,000 shares to its existing position giving it a stake of about 202,000 shares.

The positions were published in regulatory filings known as 13Fs, which show what fund managers hold at the end of each quarter.

Shares of Trump Media began trading on the Nasdaq on March 26 and have seen wild swings ever since.

Shares of Trump Media fell to record lows on Wednesday, following the company’s weak quarterly results and Republican presidential candidate Trump’s return to social media platform X. Trump is the majority owner of Trump Media & Technology, and Truth Social is the company’s . the main asset. Trump’s shrinking lead in polls and election betting markets in recent weeks has also weighed on stocks, which are seen by some retailers as a bet on Trump winning a second term. Trump Media shares have lost more than half their value since going public, dropping their market valuation to $4.73 billion.

(Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Leslie Adler)