Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU)’s share price gapped up before the market opened 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 traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Roku from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of Roku in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Roku from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Roku from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Roku from $73.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.71.

Roku Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.07. The firm has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.94 and a beta of 2.12.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Roku had a negative net margin of 3.15% and a negative return on equity of 5.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Roku, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Roku

In related news, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of Roku stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.77, for a total value of $1,994,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,116,936.26. This trade represents a 48.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 1,906 shares of Roku stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total transaction of $153,166.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,256 shares in the company, valued at $583,092.16. This represents a 20.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,308 shares of company stock valued at $8,213,436 in the last three months. 13.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROKU. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Roku by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 376,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,132,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Roku during the 3rd quarter worth about $253,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Roku by 104.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Roku during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,969,000. Finally, GS Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Roku by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.30% of the company’s stock.

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.