Trexquant Investment LP Sells 57,754 Shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT)

Trexquant Investment LP decreased its holdings in shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 86,544 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,754 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.57% of Root worth $6,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ROOT. State Street Corp raised its stake in Root by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 176,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,683,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Root by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Root by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 9,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Root during the 4th quarter worth $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Root in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Root from $67.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Root in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Alexander E. Timm sold 1,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total value of $153,307.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 161,625 shares in the company, valued at $21,659,366.25. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mahtiyar Bonakdarpour sold 5,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.78, for a total transaction of $688,161.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 286,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,799,506.78. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,659 shares of company stock valued at $1,191,469 over the last quarter. 11.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Root Trading Down 6.7 %

NASDAQ ROOT opened at $112.37 on Friday. Root, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.04 and a 12-month high of $181.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -91.36 and a beta of 2.41.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.63) by $1.93. The company had revenue of $326.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.79 million. Root had a negative return on equity of 9.81% and a negative net margin of 1.56%. On average, analysts forecast that Root, Inc. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current 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.