Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on NFLX. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $795.00 price target on shares of Netflix in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Netflix from $760.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $545.00 price target on shares of Netflix in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Netflix from $760.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Netflix from $725.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $787.85.

Netflix Stock Down 0.7 %

NFLX opened at $918.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $814.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $720.29. The firm has a market cap of $392.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.00, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.27. 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 has a twelve month low of $461.86 and a twelve month high of $941.75.

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

Insider Activity at Netflix

In other Netflix news, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 48,363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.60, for a total transaction of $43,362,265.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,212.40. This trade represents a 99.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David A. Hyman sold 267 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $765.67, for a total value of $204,433.89. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,202,828.70. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 165,405 shares of company stock valued at $129,623,487. 1.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Netflix in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Netflix in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its position in Netflix by 380.0% in the second quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 48 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Netflix by 700.0% during the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 48 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Netflix during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors 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.