Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) to Hold

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $100.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $55.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.54% from the stock’s previous close.

ROKU has been the topic of a number of other reports. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Roku from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Roku from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Moffett Nathanson cut Roku from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Roku in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Roku from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.00.

Roku Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROKU opened at $88.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.90 billion, a PE ratio of -99.84 and a beta of 2.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $81.67 and its 200-day moving average is $74.99. Roku has a 52 week low of $48.33 and a 52 week high of $104.96.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.20. Roku had a negative net margin of 3.15% and a negative return on equity of 5.34%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Roku will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Dan Jedda sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.95, for a total value of $199,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 56,555 shares in the company, valued at $5,652,672.25. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.64, for a total value of $2,066,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,193,100.32. This represents a 48.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,421 shares of company stock valued at $9,660,786 over the last 90 days. 13.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Roku

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Roku by 264.4% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 25,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after buying an additional 18,520 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Roku in the 3rd quarter worth $129,015,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted 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 worth $11,259,000 after purchasing an additional 149,514 shares in the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Roku by 59.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Roku in the 3rd quarter worth $547,000. 86.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.