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5 Investors Betting Big on SOFI Stock

Shares of SoFi (NASDAQ:SOFI) have held strong this year and are up by about 10%, despite the regional banking crisis. Meanwhile, CEO Anthony Noto has emerged as a major bull, as evident by his frequent insider purchases. His last insider purch…

Shares of SoFi (NASDAQ:SOFI) have held strong this year and are up by about 10%, despite the regional banking crisis. Meanwhile, CEO Anthony Noto has emerged as a major bull, as evident by his frequent insider purchases. His last insider purchase occurred on May 15 when he purchased 108,000 shares at an average price of $4.67 per share, bringing his total ownership to 6.48 million shares. Through 2023, Noto has purchased a total of 432,833 shares.

SoFi reported its first-quarter earnings on May 1, beating analyst estimates for both revenue and EPS. Revenue was $460.16 million compared to the estimate for $441 million, while EPS was a loss of 5 cents compared to the estimate for a loss of 7 cents. Since May 1, SOFI is down by about 9%. A major factor contributing to the decline was loan sales.

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“We believe that SOFI not selling loans in 1Q could imply that gain on sale margins aren’t trending at similar elevated levels to those generated last year or that the market for loans may have weakened,” said Wedbush analyst David Chiaverini. Following earnings, Chiaverini slashed his price target in half to $2.50 from $5.

Other analysts seem to be more bullish following earnings, as Truist initiated coverage of the company with a price target of $8.

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5 Investors Betting Big on SOFI Stock

Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large investors provide liquidity and support for stocks. During Q1, 491 13F filers disclosed a stake in SOFI, a decline of six filers compared to the prior quarter. Of those filers, six of them own the stock in their top 10 positions.

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In total, 13F filers own 306.7 million shares of SOFI, down from 328.64 million shares during Q4. Meanwhile, the institutional put/call ratio as of Q1 was 1.45, up from 0.93. That’s equivalent to 46.22 million puts and 31.92 million calls, implying a bearish options stance.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at SoFi’s five largest shareholders:

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  • Vanguard Group: 69.56 million shares. Vanguard added 1.29 million shares during Q1.
  • BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 35.82 million shares. BlackRock acquired 172,563 shares during Q1.
  • Silver Lake Group: 31.15 million shares. Silver Lake’s position remained unchanged during Q1.
  • State Street (NYSE:STT): 12.11 million shares. State Street acquired 721,911 shares during Q1.
  • Geode Capital Management: 12.05 million share. Geode acquired 484,530 shares during Q1.
  • Please note that this list only includes investors who have filed a Q1 position update. For example, Red Crow Capital owned 42.64 million shares, although that figure is only accurate as of November 2021 and could have changed by now.

    On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

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    The post 5 Investors Betting Big on SOFI Stock appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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