Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Rating Lowered to Hold at Evercore

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) was downgraded by analysts at Evercore from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

ROKU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Roku in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Roku in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Roku from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of Roku in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Roku from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.71.

Roku Stock Performance

ROKU stock opened at $137.95 on Monday. Roku has a 1 year low of $77.64 and a 1 year high of $148.88. The firm has a market cap of $20.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.72 and a beta of 2.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.95.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.23. Roku had a return on equity of 7.64% and a net margin of 4.06%.The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Roku will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Roku

In related news, insider Charles Collier sold 205,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $21,611,205.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,168,755. This represents a 94.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.79, for a total value of $9,659,250.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 713,194 shares of company stock valued at $81,763,589. Insiders own 13.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Roku by 680.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Aventura Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Roku during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bayban lifted its holdings in Roku by 1,300.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Roku during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Roku during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 86.30% of the company’s stock.

Roku News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fox agreed to buy Roku (ROKU) for about $22 billion, valuing shares at $160 each and giving Roku holders cash plus Fox stock; the deal has driven takeover speculation and a higher valuation for the company. Fox to buy Roku in $22 billion deal
• Positive Sentiment: Several Wall Street firms raised or reiterated bullish views on Roku (ROKU), including higher price targets around $160 to $175, supporting the stock after the acquisition news. Analyst updates on Roku
• Neutral Sentiment: Law firms have begun investigating whether the proposed Fox deal gives Roku (ROKU) shareholders a fair price, which adds some uncertainty but does not change the deal terms yet. Fairness investigation into Roku sale
• Negative Sentiment: Roku CFO Dan Jedda sold 7,000 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan, which may weigh on sentiment even though the sale was disclosed as routine. Roku insider sale

About Roku

Roku, Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) is a technology company that develops and operates a proprietary streaming platform designed to deliver entertainment content to consumers via internet-connected devices and smart televisions. Since its inception in 2002 in California, Roku has focused on simplifying access to streaming services for viewers worldwide. The company’s platform enables users to discover, access and manage a wide array of over-the-top content from major streaming services, free ad-supported channels and niche providers.

At the core of Roku’s product lineup are a range of streaming players and sticks, which connect to televisions via HDMI and deliver the Roku OS experience.