Robinhood Markets Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:HOOD)

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 218,678 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 37% compared to the typical volume of 160,027 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HOOD. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Robinhood Markets in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Robinhood Markets from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Robinhood Markets from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Robinhood Markets from $30.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Robinhood Markets from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Baiju Bhatt sold 108,964 shares of Robinhood Markets stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total value of $2,715,382.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,823.32. The trade was a 97.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Vladimir Tenev sold 250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.21, for a total transaction of $6,052,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,609,792 shares of company stock worth $136,247,178 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 19.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HOOD. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Robinhood Markets by 31.1% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 68,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 16,219 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Robinhood Markets during the 4th quarter worth about $634,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Robinhood Markets by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 464,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,874,000 after acquiring an additional 203,354 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Robinhood Markets by 100.4% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 330,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,751,000 after acquiring an additional 165,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Robinhood Markets during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Robinhood Markets Stock Up 4.5 %

HOOD stock traded up $2.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.15. The company had a trading volume of 35,128,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,739,152. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.56 billion, a PE ratio of 81.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 2.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.00. Robinhood Markets has a fifty-two week low of $10.38 and a fifty-two week high of $49.27.

Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Robinhood Markets had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The company had revenue of $637.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $660.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Robinhood Markets will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Robinhood Markets Company Profile

Robinhood Markets, Inc operates financial services platform in the United States. Its platform allows users to invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), American depository receipts, options, gold, and cryptocurrencies. The company offers fractional trading, recurring investments, fully-paid securities lending, access to investing on margin, cash sweep, instant withdrawals, retirement program, around-the-clock trading, and initial public offerings participation services.