loanDepot (NYSE:LDI) shares plunge 7.08% in pre-market trading amid insider selling and institutional shifts

loanDepot (NYSE:LDI) shares plunged 7.0833% in pre-market trading on December 18, 2025, amid continued insider selling and institutional positioning shifts. The decline follows a series of large-scale stock disposals by CEO Anthony Li Hsieh, who has executed multiple transactions totaling over 7.5 million shares since October 2024, reducing his ownership stake by 20.02% to 1.04 million shares. Recent sales include 260,251 shares sold at $2.49 on December 15 and 290,108 shares at $2.41 on December 16.

Analyst activity has remained mixed, with UBS Group upgrading its price target to $3.00 in October and Wall Street Zen revising its rating from "sell" to "hold" in November. However, Weiss Ratings maintained a "sell (d-)" rating as of October 8. Institutional investors showed divergent strategies, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. significantly increasing positions in Q1 2025, while hedge fund ownership now accounts for 39.39% of the float.

The selloff reflects ongoing uncertainty about the mortgage lender's financial health, despite a better-than-expected Q3 earnings report showing -$0.02 EPS (beating consensus by $0.02). The company's high debt-to-equity ratio (6.94) and negative return on equity (-22.40%) continue to weigh on investor sentiment. With insider selling accelerating and analyst ratings split, the stock faces continued pressure ahead of broader market movements.