Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $67.36, but opened at $69.47. Roku shares last traded at $73.11, with a volume of 1,090,831 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ROKU shares. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Roku from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Roku in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Roku from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of Roku in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Roku from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Roku currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.71.

Roku Trading Up 7.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -81.22 and a beta of 2.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.12.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Roku had a negative return on equity of 5.34% and a negative net margin of 3.15%. On average, analysts forecast that Roku, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Roku news, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 1,906 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total transaction of $153,166.16. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,092.16. This represents a 20.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Dan Jedda sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.18, for a total value of $77,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,555 shares in the company, valued at $4,905,174.90. The trade was a 1.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 92,308 shares of company stock worth $8,213,436. Corporate insiders own 13.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Roku

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Roku by 264.4% in the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 25,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 18,520 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Roku in the 3rd quarter worth $129,015,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Roku by 11,626.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 150,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,259,000 after purchasing an additional 149,514 shares in the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management lifted its stake in Roku by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 183,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,663,000 after acquiring an additional 68,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Roku by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,661,000 after acquiring an additional 34,898 shares in the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Roku

Roku, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a TV streaming platform in the United states and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Platform and Devices. Its streaming platform allows users to find and access TV shows, movies, news, sports, and others. The Platform segment offers digital advertising, including direct and programmatic video advertising, media and entertainment promotional spending, and related services; and streaming services distribution, such as subscription and transaction revenue shares, and sale of premium subscriptions and branded app buttons on remote controls.