Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Benchmark

Key Points

• Benchmark upgraded Robinhood Markets to “Strong Buy.” The stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with 23 analysts issuing Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $129.83.
• Robinhood’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings per share of $0.62 versus the $0.44 estimate and revenue of $1.31 billion, up 32.5% year over year.
• Shares opened at $112.57, down 0.7%, while insiders have sold approximately $64.1 million of stock over the past 90 days; institutional investors own 93.27% of the company.

Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Benchmark to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Robinhood Markets from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Robinhood Markets in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $136.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Robinhood Markets in a research note on Tuesday. Argus upped their price objective on Robinhood Markets from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Robinhood Markets in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.83.

Robinhood Markets Stock Down 0.7%

HOOD opened at $112.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 2.34. Robinhood Markets has a one year low of $63.51 and a one year high of $153.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $103.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.18. Robinhood Markets had a return on equity of 22.43% and a net margin of 42.01%.The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 32.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Robinhood Markets will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Robinhood Markets

In other Robinhood Markets news, Director Baiju Bhatt sold 50,317 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.80, for a total value of $4,870,685.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven M. Quirk sold 24,416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.33, for a total transaction of $2,937,977.28. Following the sale, the insider owned 77,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,366,366.87. This represents a 23.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 570,260 shares of company stock valued at $64,115,060. Insiders own 13.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Robinhood Markets

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Robinhood Markets by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 100,849 shares of the company's stock worth $11,406,000 after buying an additional 46,688 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Robinhood Markets by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 722,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,755,000 after acquiring an additional 478,919 shares in the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Robinhood Markets by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 120,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,572,000 after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Robinhood Markets during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,691,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Robinhood Markets by 37.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 786,318 shares of the company's stock worth $78,852,000 after acquiring an additional 212,855 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Robinhood Markets

Here are the key news stories impacting Robinhood Markets this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong August activity and event-contract growth: Robinhood reported 28.6 million customers and broadly positive August operating metrics. Separately, event-contract activity reportedly increased 15-fold year over year, supporting the company’s diversification beyond traditional brokerage revenue. Robinhood August operating data Robinhood event contracts growth
• Positive Sentiment: New revenue opportunities: Citizens JMP raised its price target to $165 from $155 and maintained a Market Outperform rating. Citizens also projected Robinhood Chain could generate $365 million in revenue by 2027. Robinhood’s underwriting role in the Oura IPO could provide investment-banking fee revenue and create opportunities to participate in larger IPOs. Citizens Robinhood Chain projection Robinhood investment banking ambitions
• Neutral Sentiment: Expansion through partnerships: Robinhood is expanding prediction-market access through arrangements involving Crypto.com and OG.com, although the ultimate financial contribution remains uncertain.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal concerns: Robinhood plans to stop offering sports prediction markets in Michigan amid litigation. A broader legal update highlights rapidly changing rules across several states, creating uncertainty around the company’s prediction-market growth strategy. Robinhood Michigan prediction markets lawsuit Prediction markets legal update
• Negative Sentiment: Tokenization faces scrutiny: Objections from securities issuers and unresolved regulatory questions could raise compliance costs and slow Robinhood’s international rollout of tokenized stocks. Robinhood tokenized-stock scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: Director Oluwadara Treseder sold 1,875 shares for approximately $234,375 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale was small relative to her remaining stake but may add modest caution.

Robinhood Markets Company Profile

Robinhood Markets, Inc is a financial services company that operates a digital investing and trading platform. Through its mobile app and website, the company provides access to U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, cryptocurrencies and other investment products. Robinhood also offers individual retirement accounts, margin investing and cash-management services, subject to applicable eligibility requirements and regulations.

The company generates revenue from sources that include interest earned on customer cash and margin balances, transaction-based revenue related to options and cryptocurrency trading, subscription fees for Robinhood Gold and other service-related activities.

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