Benchmark Upgrades Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) to Strong-Buy

Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) was upgraded by stock analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on HOOD. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Robinhood Markets in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Robinhood Markets in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Robinhood Markets in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Robinhood Markets in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Robinhood Markets in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.83.

Robinhood Markets Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HOOD opened at $112.57 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $103.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.67. The company has a market cap of $101.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 2.34. Robinhood Markets has a 12-month low of $63.51 and a 12-month high of $153.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Robinhood Markets had a return on equity of 22.43% and a net margin of 42.01%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 32.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Robinhood Markets will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Robinhood Markets

In other news, insider Steven M. Quirk sold 24,416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.33, for a total transaction of $2,937,977.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 77,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,366,366.87. This represents a 23.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Vladimir Tenev sold 375,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.17, for a total value of $43,563,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 375,000 shares in the company, valued at $43,563,750. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 570,260 shares of company stock valued at $64,115,060. Insiders own 13.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Robinhood Markets

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HOOD. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Robinhood Markets by 9,976.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 113,132,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,344,976,000 after acquiring an additional 112,010,233 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Robinhood Markets by 103.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,246,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,617,004,000 after acquiring an additional 16,375,734 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Robinhood Markets during the fourth quarter worth $1,202,160,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Robinhood Markets during the 2nd quarter valued at $379,695,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Robinhood Markets by 89.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 6,385,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,497,000 after purchasing an additional 3,007,103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

Robinhood Markets News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Robinhood Markets this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong August activity and event-contract growth: Robinhood reported 28.6 million customers and broadly positive August operating metrics. Separately, event-contract activity reportedly increased 15-fold year over year, supporting the company’s diversification beyond traditional brokerage revenue. Robinhood August operating data Robinhood event contracts growth
• Positive Sentiment: New revenue opportunities: Citizens JMP raised its price target to $165 from $155 and maintained a Market Outperform rating. Citizens also projected Robinhood Chain could generate $365 million in revenue by 2027. Robinhood’s underwriting role in the Oura IPO could provide investment-banking fee revenue and create opportunities to participate in larger IPOs. Citizens Robinhood Chain projection Robinhood investment banking ambitions
• Neutral Sentiment: Expansion through partnerships: Robinhood is expanding prediction-market access through arrangements involving Crypto.com and OG.com, although the ultimate financial contribution remains uncertain.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal concerns: Robinhood plans to stop offering sports prediction markets in Michigan amid litigation. A broader legal update highlights rapidly changing rules across several states, creating uncertainty around the company’s prediction-market growth strategy. Robinhood Michigan prediction markets lawsuit Prediction markets legal update
• Negative Sentiment: Tokenization faces scrutiny: Objections from securities issuers and unresolved regulatory questions could raise compliance costs and slow Robinhood’s international rollout of tokenized stocks. Robinhood tokenized-stock scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: Director Oluwadara Treseder sold 1,875 shares for approximately $234,375 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale was small relative to her remaining stake but may add modest caution.

Robinhood Markets Company Profile

Robinhood Markets, Inc is a financial services company that operates a digital investing and trading platform. Through its mobile app and website, the company provides access to U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, cryptocurrencies and other investment products. Robinhood also offers individual retirement accounts, margin investing and cash-management services, subject to applicable eligibility requirements and regulations.

The company generates revenue from sources that include interest earned on customer cash and margin balances, transaction-based revenue related to options and cryptocurrency trading, subscription fees for Robinhood Gold and other service-related activities.