Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Stock

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) had its price target increased by Needham & Company LLC from $800.00 to $1,150.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the Internet television network’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on NFLX. Benchmark increased their price objective on Netflix from $555.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Netflix from $725.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Netflix from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Netflix from $950.00 to $925.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Netflix from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $993.82.

Netflix Stock Performance

Shares of NFLX opened at $953.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $407.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27. Netflix has a 12 month low of $481.40 and a 12 month high of $999.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $886.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $762.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The Internet television network reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.20 by $0.07. Netflix had a return on equity of 35.86% and a net margin of 20.70%. The company had revenue of $10.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10,141,900 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.11 EPS. Netflix’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Netflix will post 19.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anne M. Sweeney sold 589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $880.00, for a total transaction of $518,320.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard N. Barton sold 5,698 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $756.00, for a total transaction of $4,307,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 246 shares in the company, valued at $185,976. This represents a 95.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 152,198 shares of company stock worth $127,616,898. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Netflix

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Netflix by 116,620.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,753,129 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $4,080,522,000 after buying an additional 5,748,200 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Netflix by 154.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,058,431 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $750,713,000 after acquiring an additional 642,920 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Netflix by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,951,347 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $12,023,082,000 after acquiring an additional 426,740 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Netflix by 4.7% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,990,874 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $4,958,417,000 after purchasing an additional 316,594 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Netflix in the third quarter worth $222,871,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.