Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $55.91, but opened at $62.09. Robinhood Markets shares last traded at $63.48, with a volume of 27,765,770 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. Robinhood Markets had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 7.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HOOD shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Robinhood Markets from $64.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Robinhood Markets from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Robinhood Markets from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $46.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on Robinhood Markets from $54.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Robinhood Markets from $30.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.07.

Insider Activity

In other Robinhood Markets news, Director Baiju Bhatt sold 90,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.34, for a total value of $5,028,524.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $279,024.28. This trade represents a 94.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel Martin Gallagher, Jr. sold 12,500 shares of Robinhood Markets stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.22, for a total value of $477,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,106,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,307,820.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,948,427 shares of company stock worth $165,005,244. 19.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Robinhood Markets

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Robinhood Markets by 184.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,237,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,499,248,000 after purchasing an additional 26,107,934 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Robinhood Markets by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,558,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,536,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Robinhood Markets by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,175,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,464,000 after purchasing an additional 555,299 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Robinhood Markets in the fourth quarter worth about $329,598,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Robinhood Markets during the 4th quarter valued at about $302,325,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Robinhood Markets Trading Up 14.3 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.48 billion, a PE ratio of 108.43, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.13.

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.