Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Rocket Companies (NYSE:RKT)

Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE:RKT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 194,624 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 53% compared to the typical volume of 127,005 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Companies

In related news, Director Matthew Rizik sold 2,500 shares of Rocket Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.25, for a total transaction of $48,125.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,061,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,424,943. This trade represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 32,500 shares of company stock valued at $611,850 in the last three months. 92.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rocket Companies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Rocket Companies by 18.4% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Rocket Companies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Miller Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Rocket Companies by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. Miller Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Rocket Companies by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Rocket Companies by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 34,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 4.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on RKT. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Rocket Companies in a research note on Friday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Rocket Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Rocket Companies in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Rocket Companies from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Rocket Companies in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.54.

Rocket Companies Price Performance

NYSE:RKT traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.80. 47,583,049 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 34,576,820. The company has a quick ratio of 19.68, a current ratio of 19.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market cap of $47.97 billion, a PE ratio of 284.97 and a beta of 2.29. Rocket Companies has a 12 month low of $10.06 and a 12 month high of $23.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.63 and a 200 day moving average of $17.67.

Rocket Companies (NYSE:RKT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07. Rocket Companies had a negative net margin of 1.77% and a positive return on equity of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. Rocket Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 148.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rocket Companies will post 0.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Rocket Companies

Rocket Companies, Inc is a Detroit-based holding company whose businesses are centered on digital mortgage origination and related consumer finance and real estate services. The company grew out of the Quicken Loans franchise and completed an initial public offering in 2020. Founder Dan Gilbert remains a prominent figure associated with the firm, which operates a suite of brands that aim to simplify the home financing and buying experience through technology and scale.

The company’s core activity is mortgage lending through its Rocket Mortgage platform, which offers online application, underwriting and servicing for home purchase and refinance loans.