Wedbush Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU)

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by investment analysts at Wedbush in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $155.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 1.21% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ROKU. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Roku from $126.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Evercore lowered Roku from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Roku in a report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Roku in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, William Blair lowered Roku from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nineteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.17.

Roku Price Performance

NASDAQ ROKU traded up $0.47 on Thursday, reaching $153.15. The company had a trading volume of 488,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,409,289. Roku has a 1 year low of $78.53 and a 1 year high of $159.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.54 and a 200-day moving average of $131.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a PE ratio of 65.45 and a beta of 2.05.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.47. Roku had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 6.82%.The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Roku will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Roku

In other Roku news, SVP Christopher T. Handman sold 2,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $466,764.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,400,293.08. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Charles Collier sold 20,538 shares of Roku stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.99, for a total value of $3,224,260.62. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 22,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,673. This trade represents a 47.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 112,285 shares of company stock valued at $16,939,414 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ROKU. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Roku by 229.5% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,038,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,772 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in Roku by 7,087.7% during the 4th quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,421,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,212,000 after buying an additional 1,401,664 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P acquired a new stake in shares of Roku during the second quarter worth $163,604,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Roku during the fourth quarter worth $92,808,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Roku by 1,320.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 834,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,967,000 after acquiring an additional 775,861 shares during the period. 86.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Roku

Roku, Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) operates a television streaming platform that connects consumers with digital entertainment. Its Roku operating system powers streaming players, Roku-branded televisions and smart-TV products made by licensing partners. The platform provides access to streaming services, live television, movies, music and other applications.

The company also operates The Roku Channel, its own ad-supported streaming service offering licensed and original content, including movies, television programs, live channels and premium subscription options.