Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $156.22.

ROKU has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Roku from $126.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Roku from $120.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Fox Advisors set a $157.00 price target on shares of Roku in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Roku from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Roku from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd.

Roku Stock Performance

Roku stock opened at $159.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.23 and a beta of 2.12. Roku has a fifty-two week low of $78.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $155.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.72.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.65. Roku had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 9.34%. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Roku will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Roku news, insider Charles Collier sold 20,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.99, for a total transaction of $3,224,260.62. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,673. This represents a 47.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Dan Jedda sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.81, for a total value of $1,097,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 74,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,731,112.91. The trade was a 8.56% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 88,028 shares of company stock worth $13,645,922. 13.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Roku

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROKU. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Roku by 229.5% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,038,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,772 shares in the last quarter. HBK Investments L P purchased a new position in Roku in the 2nd quarter valued at about $163,604,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Roku by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,565,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,090,000 after purchasing an additional 290,200 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Roku during the 2nd quarter worth about $105,216,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Roku by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,082,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,450,000 after purchasing an additional 56,893 shares during the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Top Roku Stories

Investors following ROKU have been watching these stories:

• Positive Sentiment: Fox has completed its acquisition of Roku, positioning the combined company to connect Fox’s media business with Roku’s streaming platform. The DOJ cleared the deal, saying it was not likely to harm competition, including in free ad-supported streaming. Fox’s $22 Billion Roku Acquisition Reshapes Its Streaming Business Fox’s ‘Neutral’ Roku Stance Steps To A New Dance
• Neutral Sentiment: Fox is reportedly selling investment-grade bonds to raise funds to repay the bridge loan used for the takeover. This is a financing development; the articles do not detail its impact on Roku’s operations. Fox Launches Bond Sale to Repay Bridge Loan for Roku Takeover
• Negative Sentiment: Roku will stop selling smart-home devices and refocus on streaming. Sharper strategic focus may benefit the core business, but exiting a product category could mean lost sales and changes for existing customers. Roku will stop selling smart home devices and refocus on streaming

Roku Company Profile

Roku, Inc. provides a streaming platform that connects viewers with television and other digital video content. Its products include streaming players and Roku-branded televisions, as well as the Roku operating system, which the company licenses to television manufacturers. Roku also operates a platform business that supports streaming services and advertisers. Its offerings include the Roku Channel, an ad-supported streaming service, and tools for distributing content and delivering advertising to viewers.