Roku Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:ROKU)

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 92,862 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 197% compared to the average daily volume of 31,279 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 8,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.44, for a total value of $621,027.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,264 shares in the company, valued at $518,940.16. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Dan Jedda sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $75,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,916,625. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,885 shares of company stock worth $7,911,162 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Roku

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROKU. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Roku by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,183,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,426,134,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613,570 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Roku by 663.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,335,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030,036 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Roku during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $129,015,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of Roku by 126.1% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,535,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,646,000 after buying an additional 856,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Roku by 214.1% during the 4th quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 864,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,302,000 after buying an additional 589,610 shares during the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Roku Trading Up 14.1 %

Roku stock opened at $99.07 on Friday. Roku has a twelve month low of $48.33 and a twelve month high of $104.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.56 and a beta of 2.05.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last posted 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. Roku had a negative return on equity of 7.22% and a negative net margin of 4.42%. Sell-side analysts predict that Roku will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ROKU shares. Baird R W upgraded Roku from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Roku from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Roku from $92.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Roku from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Roku from $73.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Roku currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.18.

Roku Company Profile

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.