Point72 DIFC Ltd Takes Position in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT)

Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Root by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 9,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Root by 15.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 9,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in Root by 76.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 2,576 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Root by 129.1% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 5,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 2,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Root during the second quarter worth about $288,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Root

In other news, Director Julie Szudarek sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.33, for a total transaction of $192,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,445,238.99. This represents a 11.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Meyer Malka sold 75,839 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.21, for a total value of $6,158,885.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,500,719.47. This represents a 63.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 246,905 shares of company stock worth $20,440,479. Insiders own 11.71% of the company’s stock.

Root Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROOT opened at $91.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.66 and a beta of 2.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. Root, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.22 and a 12-month high of $118.15.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by $1.96. The business had revenue of $305.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.77 million. Root had a negative return on equity of 9.81% and a negative net margin of 1.56%. Root’s revenue for the quarter was up 165.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($3.16) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Root, Inc. will post -1.2 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Root from $84.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Root to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Root from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities downgraded shares of Root from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Root from $64.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.13.

Root Company Profile

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.