The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week with a decent gain. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.7% to 7,172.3 points.
Four ASX shares that have failed to climb with the market today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping:
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)
The Appen share price is down 6.5% to $2.84. This may have been driven by profit taking from investors after the artificial intelligence data services company's surged higher. In fact, even after this sizeable decline, the Appen share price is up 22% since the start of the month.
Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)
The Harvey Norman share price is down over 3% to $3.60. This has been driven by the retail giant's shares going ex-dividend this morning. Eligible shareholders can now look forward to receiving this fully franked 13 cents per share interim dividend in their bank accounts in a little over a month on 1 May.
Healthco Healthcare and Wellness REIT (ASX: HCW)
The Healthco share price is down 6% to $1.34. The catalyst for this has been the property company completing an institutional placement and entitlement offer. The company raised approximately $208 million at $1.35 per new share. It will now raise a further $112 million via an underwritten retail entitlement offer.
Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE)
The Lake Resources share price is down almost 4% to 45.2 cents. This lithium developer continues to underperform its peers and is now down almost 28% month to date. That's despite the rest of the industry hurtling higher this week following some major M&A news. One short seller has been targeting Lake due to doubts over its DLE technology.
