Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Trading Up 1.3% – Still a Buy?

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU)’s share price rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $94.15 and last traded at $93.47. Approximately 2,737,797 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 3,816,397 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.28.

More Roku News

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roku rolled out 17 new free channels on The Roku Channel, expanding content selection that can boost viewer engagement and ad-revenue potential for the platform. Roku quietly rolls out a major free upgrade for users
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/investor coverage picked up — Zacks published pieces highlighting increased investor attention and listing Roku among must-watch streaming stocks — which can attract flows and re-rate sentiment after Roku’s recent earnings beat. Roku, Inc. (ROKU) is Attracting Investor Attention
• Positive Sentiment: New original/exclusive programming (example: The Reunion: Laguna Beach premiere on The Roku Channel) supports content-led engagement and subscription/ads upside on the platform. ‘The Reunion: Laguna Beach’ Gets Premiere Date On Roku Channel
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail discounting on Roku hardware (Streambar SE, Streaming Stick 4K, Streaming Stick Plus and Roku TV deals) is widespread — this likely boosts unit sales/market share but may compress hardware margins and lower ASPs. Coverage of these price cuts appeared across Gizmodo, Kotaku, Mashable and MSN. Roku’s 2-in-1 Soundbar and Streaming Combo Hits a New Low Roku Streambar SE Falls Below Its Black Friday Price The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is back on sale at Amazon
• Negative Sentiment: A Pocket-lint piece flags a limitation with the Roku Ultra’s Ethernet port that may surprise buyers — negative product PR can dent consumer confidence and complicate hardware upsell conversations. Your Roku Ultra’s Ethernet port doesn’t do what you think

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ROKU shares. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Roku in a research note on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Roku in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Roku in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Roku from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Arete Research set a $132.00 price target on Roku and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Roku presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.96.

Roku Stock Up 5.3%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.17. The company has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 172.65 and a beta of 1.99.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. Roku had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 3.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. Analysts predict that Roku, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Roku

In other news, CFO Dan Jedda sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total value of $266,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,489,650.96. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 729 shares of Roku stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.04, for a total value of $79,490.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $635,158. This represents a 11.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 219,710 shares of company stock worth $22,761,608 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Roku

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Roku by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Roku by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Roku by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Roku by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 9,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Roku by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.30% of the company’s stock.

About Roku

Roku, Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) is a technology company that develops and operates a proprietary streaming platform designed to deliver entertainment content to consumers via internet-connected devices and smart televisions. Since its inception in 2002 in California, Roku has focused on simplifying access to streaming services for viewers worldwide. The company’s platform enables users to discover, access and manage a wide array of over-the-top content from major streaming services, free ad-supported channels and niche providers.

At the core of Roku’s product lineup are a range of streaming players and sticks, which connect to televisions via HDMI and deliver the Roku OS experience.