Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Upgraded by UBS Group to “Strong-Buy” Rating

UBS Group upgraded shares of Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ROKU. Pivotal Research upgraded shares of Roku from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $65.00 to $125.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. FBN Securities assumed coverage on shares of Roku in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Roku from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Roku in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Roku from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.55.

Roku Trading Down 4.7 %

Shares of Roku stock opened at $72.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -81.45 and a beta of 2.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.67. Roku has a 12 month low of $48.33 and a 12 month high of $104.96.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 3.15% and a negative return on equity of 5.34%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Analysts predict that Roku will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Roku

In other news, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.77, for a total value of $1,994,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,116,936.26. This represents a 48.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 1,906 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total value of $153,166.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,092.16. The trade was a 20.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,908 shares of company stock valued at $8,633,436 in the last three months. 13.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Roku

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROKU. FMR LLC increased its position in Roku by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,183,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,426,134,000 after buying an additional 4,613,570 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Roku by 663.9% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,335,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030,036 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Roku during the 3rd quarter worth about $129,015,000. Cadian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Roku during the fourth quarter worth about $87,632,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Roku by 505.3% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,296,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,402,000 after buying an additional 1,082,548 shares during the period. 86.30% of the stock is currently 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.