Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on loanDepot (NYSE:LDI)

loanDepot, Inc. (NYSE:LDI) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 20,699 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 82% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,345 call options.

loanDepot Stock Down 6.2%

loanDepot stock opened at $3.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.92 and a beta of 3.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. loanDepot has a 52-week low of $1.01 and a 52-week high of $5.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at loanDepot

In other news, CEO Anthony Li Hsieh sold 3,046,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.64, for a total value of $8,041,453.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,693,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,391,399.68. This represents a 39.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 14,470,160 shares of company stock valued at $40,335,701 over the last 90 days. 83.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of loanDepot

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LDI. Philosophy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of loanDepot by 73.3% in the 1st quarter. Philosophy Capital Management LLC now owns 4,141,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751,245 shares in the last quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC purchased a new position in loanDepot during the 1st quarter worth $1,469,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in loanDepot by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,925,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,021 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in loanDepot by 1,671.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 655,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 618,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continental Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of loanDepot in the 2nd quarter worth about $656,000. Institutional investors own 39.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LDI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of loanDepot from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of loanDepot in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of loanDepot from $1.40 to $1.90 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.30.

loanDepot Company Profile

loanDepot, Inc engages in originating, financing, selling, and servicing residential mortgage loans in the United States. The company offers conventional agency-conforming and prime jumbo, federal assistance residential mortgage, and home equity loans. It also provides settlement services, which include captive title and escrow business; real estate services that cover captive real estate referral business; and insurance services, including services to homeowners, as well as other consumer insurance policies.