Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Shares Down 0.6% After Insider Selling

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares fell 0.6% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $880.12 and last traded at $881.57. 675,013 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 1,441,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $886.73.

Specifically, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 35,868 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.08, for a total value of $31,853,653.44. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 114 shares in the company, valued at $101,241.12. This represents a 99.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NFLX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Netflix from $810.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $825.00 price objective (up previously from $770.00) on shares of Netflix in a report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Netflix from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Netflix from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Netflix from $820.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $813.00.

Netflix Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $376.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.86, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $866.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $746.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The Internet television network reported $5.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.09 by $0.31. Netflix had a return on equity of 35.86% and a net margin of 20.70%. The firm had revenue of $9.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Netflix, Inc. will post 19.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Netflix

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DigitalBridge Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Netflix by 35.5% during the 2nd quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 36,063 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $24,338,000 after buying an additional 9,451 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Netflix by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,579,404 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $1,829,494,000 after acquiring an additional 29,726 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Netflix by 2.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 612,458 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $434,398,000 after acquiring an additional 11,921 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Netflix by 4.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 41,946 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $29,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Netflix in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,517,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

About Netflix

Netflix, Inc provides entertainment services. It offers TV series, documentaries, feature films, and games across various genres and languages. The company also provides members the ability to receive streaming content through a host of internet-connected devices, including TVs, digital video players, TV set-top boxes, and mobile devices.