Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD)

Key Points

• On a recent trading day, Robinhood Markets saw a 35% increase in call options volume, with stock traders acquiring 614,113 call options.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Robinhood, with JMP Securities increasing theirs from $125 to $130, while KeyCorp and Morgan Stanley have also significantly raised their targets.
• Insiders at Robinhood have sold a total of 5.68 million shares worth approximately $561.2 million over the last ninety days, indicating a notable reduction in ownership for insiders.

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 614,113 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseofapproximately35% compared to the average daily volume of 453,415 call options.

Insider Activity at Robinhood Markets

In other Robinhood Markets news, insider Steven M. Quirk sold 92,257 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.96, for a total value of $7,838,154.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 136,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,585,485.44. This represents a 40.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Baiju Bhatt sold 1,568,421 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.98, for a total value of $156,810,731.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,767,854 shares of company stock valued at $569,828,413 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 14.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Robinhood Markets

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Robinhood Markets by 1.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,612,131 shares of the company's stock worth $7,079,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371,051 shares during the period. Newlands Management Operations LLC grew its stake in Robinhood Markets by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Newlands Management Operations LLC now owns 24,158,860 shares of the company's stock worth $900,159,000 after purchasing an additional 273,860 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Robinhood Markets by 9.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,870,421 shares of the company's stock worth $1,485,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Robinhood Markets by 4.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,176,539 shares of the company's stock worth $1,233,840,000 after purchasing an additional 507,926 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Robinhood Markets by 3,615.7% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 11,555,160 shares of the company's stock worth $1,081,910,000 after purchasing an additional 11,244,182 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HOOD has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Robinhood Markets from $99.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Robinhood Markets from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Robinhood Markets from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Robinhood Markets from $60.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Robinhood Markets from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.31.

Robinhood Markets Stock Performance

Shares of Robinhood Markets stock traded down $1.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $101.25. 60,005,141 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,243,404. The company has a market cap of $89.98 billion, a PE ratio of 51.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 2.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $103.72 and a 200-day moving average of $71.31. Robinhood Markets has a 12 month low of $18.71 and a 12 month high of $117.70.

Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $989.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.93 million. Robinhood Markets had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 50.13%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Robinhood Markets will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Robinhood Markets

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.