Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Roku, Inc. $ROKU

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) by 13.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,598 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,753 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Roku were worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Roku by 680.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Bayban raised its stake in Roku by 1,300.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Roku during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Roku during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Roku by 55.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Roku from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Roku in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Roku from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target (up from $140.00) on shares of Roku in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Roku from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.12.

Roku Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROKU opened at $145.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.27 and a beta of 2.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.40. Roku, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.53 and a 12 month high of $148.88.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.23. Roku had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 7.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Roku, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Roku

In other Roku news, insider Mustafa Ozgen sold 10,194 shares of Roku stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.00, for a total value of $1,467,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 19,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,762,640. The trade was a 34.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Neil D. Hunt sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.65, for a total transaction of $281,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,354,318.85. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 236,499 shares of company stock valued at $30,582,963 in the last quarter. 13.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.