Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Stock Moved Down to Moderate Buy by Phillip Securities

Phillip Securities cut shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) from a strong-buy rating to a moderate buy rating in a research note released on Friday,Zacks reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Netflix in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Netflix in a research note on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price objective on shares of Netflix from $120.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Netflix in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $77.00 target price on shares of Netflix and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.59.

Netflix Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NFLX opened at $65.85 on Friday. Netflix has a fifty-two week low of $64.10 and a fifty-two week high of $116.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.27 and a 200 day moving average of $79.64. The firm has a market cap of $270.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The Internet television network reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.87 billion. Netflix had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 42.69%. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Netflix will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Netflix

In other Netflix news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 27,312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.54, for a total value of $2,008,524.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,265.74. This trade represents a 18.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Theodore A. Sarandos sold 27,312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,335.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 178,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,126,275.90. The trade was a 13.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 179,045 shares of company stock worth $13,132,194 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Netflix

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NFLX. Townsend & Associates Inc bought a new stake in Netflix in the third quarter worth $202,000. Aries Wealth Management boosted its position in Netflix by 39.3% during the third quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 16,810 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after buying an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Helium Advisors LLC boosted its position in Netflix by 22.4% during the third quarter. Helium Advisors LLC now owns 4,603 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the period. Hedeker Wealth LLC boosted its position in Netflix by 4.3% during the third quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Netflix by 13.1% during the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69,917 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $4,865,000 after buying an additional 8,113 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Netflix

Here are the key news stories impacting Netflix this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Netflix reported third-quarter EPS of $0.87, ahead of the $0.82 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $12.87 billion. Operating margin rose to 34.6%, supporting the argument that the core streaming business remains highly profitable. Can Netflix Stock Hold Margin Gains as Content Spending Keeps Growing?
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term bulls argue that Netflix’s profitability, systematic share repurchases, local-language content, and continued subscriber retention could create meaningful upside after the sell-off. Bill Ackman has also returned to the stock and expects annualized returns above 20%. Bill Ackman Lost $400 Million on Netflix
• Positive Sentiment: Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood bought 18,000 Netflix shares, signaling that some growth-oriented investors view the two-year-low valuation as an opportunity. Cathie Wood Just Bought Netflix Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Netflix is reportedly planning layoffs at its Bay Area headquarters. The cuts could reduce costs, but they also raise questions about operating priorities and employee productivity. Netflix Stock Slips as Layoffs Hit Bay Area Headquarters
• Neutral Sentiment: Paramount Skydance’s completed merger highlights intensifying competition for scale and content across the entertainment industry, potentially increasing pressure on Netflix to sustain its content advantage. Could Skydance Be Bigger Than Disney?
• Negative Sentiment: Management reduced its 2026 advertising-revenue outlook to approximately $2.7 billion from about $3 billion. Softer ad growth undermines a major part of Netflix’s expansion thesis and overshadowed the earnings beat. Netflix Cut Its 2026 Ad Forecast by $300 Million
• Negative Sentiment: Disappointing fourth-quarter revenue guidance and decelerating growth have led investors to discount the strong quarterly results. Netflix’s reduced 2026 free-cash-flow outlook is another concern as content spending continues to rise. Netflix Has Lower FCF Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts lowered their price targets or ratings after the report. One fair-value estimate fell from $92.62 to $86.24, while UBS, Guggenheim, and Needham adopted more cautious views. Netflix Stock Fair Value Falls After Cautious Q3 Analyst Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate viewing time is declining even though subscribers are staying, suggesting weaker engagement. YouTube and lower-cost streaming alternatives may also be contributing to slower revenue growth. Netflix Is Losing Viewers

About Netflix

Netflix, Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) is a global entertainment company that provides subscription-based streaming services. Its platform offers a broad selection of television series, films, documentaries, stand-up specials and other programming, including content produced by Netflix and licensed from third-party studios and creators.

The company also develops and distributes original productions under the Netflix brand and has expanded into additional entertainment offerings, including mobile and cloud-based games in select markets and live programming.