Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Trading 1.6% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s share price shot up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating. Wolfe Research now has a $1,100.00 price target on the stock. Netflix traded as high as $984.42 and last traded at $969.71. 3,061,421 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 4,418,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $953.99.

NFLX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Netflix from $1,040.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Netflix from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Netflix from $758.00 to $797.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Netflix from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 21st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,150.00 target price (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Netflix in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $996.94.

Insider Activity

In other Netflix news, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 48,363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,212.40. This represents a 99.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy M. Haley sold 11,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.96, for a total transaction of $8,405,776.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,500 shares of company stock valued at $123,309,210. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Netflix by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,951,347 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $12,023,082,000 after purchasing an additional 426,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Netflix by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,148,356 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $6,464,736,000 after purchasing an additional 123,029 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Netflix by 4.7% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,990,874 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $4,958,417,000 after purchasing an additional 316,594 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Netflix by 116,620.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,753,129 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $4,080,522,000 after purchasing an additional 5,748,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Netflix by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,897,389 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $3,473,571,000 after purchasing an additional 23,702 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Netflix Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $889.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $763.41. The stock has a market cap of $420.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.27.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The Internet television network reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.20 by $0.07. Netflix had a return on equity of 39.48% and a net margin of 22.34%. The firm had revenue of $10.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10,141,900 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Netflix, Inc. will post 23.43 EPS for the current year.

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.