Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Invests $417,000 in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Root by 651.8% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 421 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Root in the fourth quarter worth about $94,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Root in the fourth quarter worth approximately $154,000. FreeGulliver LLC bought a new stake in shares of Root during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Mariner LLC purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Institutional investors own 59.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ROOT. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Root from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Root from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Root in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Root from $105.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Root from $67.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mahtiyar Bonakdarpour sold 5,515 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.78, for a total transaction of $688,161.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,799,506.78. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Meyer Malka sold 225,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.81, for a total value of $30,557,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 503,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,421,078. This represents a 30.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 233,659 shares of company stock valued at $31,748,719. Insiders own 11.76% of the company's stock.

Root Stock Down 0.3%

Root stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $135.31. The stock had a trading volume of 105,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 510,669. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Root, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.04 and a fifty-two week high of $181.14. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $138.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of -110.01 and a beta of 2.40.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.62. Root had a negative return on equity of 9.81% and a negative net margin of 1.56%. The firm had revenue of $349.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.42) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 37.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Root, Inc. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Root Profile

Root, Inc provides insurance products and services in the United States. The company offers automobile, homeowners, and renters insurance products. It operates a direct-to-consumer model; and serves customers primarily through mobile applications, as well as through its website. The company's direct distribution channels also cover digital, media, and referral channels, as well as distribution partners and agencies.