Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys New Position in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Root by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 3,169 shares during the period. Mariner LLC acquired a new stake in Root during the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Root by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,774,000 after acquiring an additional 6,465 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Root by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 15,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Root by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the period. 59.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Root news, CEO Alexander E. Timm sold 1,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total transaction of $153,307.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 161,625 shares in the company, valued at $21,659,366.25. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Meyer Malka sold 225,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.81, for a total value of $30,557,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 233,659 shares of company stock worth $31,748,719 over the last quarter. 11.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ROOT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Root from $105.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Root from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Root in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Root from $115.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Root from $67.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.17.

Root Trading Down 6.0%

Shares of ROOT opened at $141.20 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $138.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of -114.80 and a beta of 2.40. Root, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.04 and a 12 month high of $181.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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

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.