T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 408,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,661,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 2.71% of Root as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Root by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 526,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,250,000 after buying an additional 73,413 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Root by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 263,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,129,000 after purchasing an additional 77,699 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Root by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 176,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,683,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Root by 163.2% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 127,923 shares of the company's stock worth $9,286,000 after purchasing an additional 79,317 shares during the period. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Root during the 4th quarter worth about $2,952,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Root

In other news, Director Doug Ulman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,085,175. This represents a 24.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Meyer Malka sold 225,000 shares of Root stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.81, for a total transaction of $30,557,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 503,800 shares in the company, valued at $68,421,078. The trade was a 30.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 233,659 shares of company stock worth $31,748,719 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.71% of the company's stock.

Root Stock Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ ROOT traded down $3.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $136.63. 398,989 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 522,092. Root, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.04 and a 1 year high of $181.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -111.08 and a beta of 2.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $133.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.48.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.63) by $1.93. Root had a negative net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 9.81%. The company had revenue of $326.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.79 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Root, Inc. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ROOT. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Root in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Root from $67.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Root from $90.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Root from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Root from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.67.

About Root

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.