Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Rating Increased to Buy at Pivotal Research

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) was upgraded by investment analysts at Pivotal Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm currently has a $125.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $65.00. Pivotal Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 44.01% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Roku in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Roku in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Roku from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Roku from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded Roku to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.95.

Roku Stock Performance

Shares of ROKU stock opened at $86.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a PE ratio of -72.33 and a beta of 2.05. Roku has a fifty-two week low of $48.33 and a fifty-two week high of $95.17.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Roku will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Dan Jedda sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.18, for a total value of $77,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,905,174.90. The trade was a 1.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.64, for a total value of $2,066,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,193,100.32. The trade was a 48.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,885 shares of company stock valued at $7,911,162 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Roku

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Roku by 663.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,335,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030,036 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in Roku by 583.3% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 120,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,949,000 after acquiring an additional 102,765 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in Roku by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 14,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 7,518 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Roku by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 2,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Roku by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 55,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,131,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.