Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $84.78, but opened at $81.76. Roku shares last traded at $85.36, with a volume of 1,148,318 shares.

Specifically, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $2,198,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,333,486.34. The trade was a 48.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ROKU. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Roku in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of Roku in a report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Roku to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Roku from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Roku from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.18.

Roku Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -72.33 and a beta of 2.05.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.20. Roku had a negative return on equity of 7.22% and a negative net margin of 4.42%. As a group, research analysts expect that Roku, Inc. will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Roku

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in Roku by 264.4% during the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 25,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 18,520 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Roku during the 3rd quarter worth about $129,015,000. Kessler Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Roku by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 75,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,672,000 after purchasing an additional 13,590 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Roku by 11,626.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 150,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,259,000 after purchasing an additional 149,514 shares during the period. Finally, EULAV Asset Management grew its holdings in Roku by 59.1% during the third quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 183,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,663,000 after purchasing an additional 68,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.