StockNews.com Upgrades Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on NFLX. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Netflix from $760.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Netflix from $825.00 to $1,065.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Netflix from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Netflix from $775.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “sell” rating and set a $545.00 price objective on shares of Netflix in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Netflix has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $807.70.

Netflix Price Performance

NFLX stock opened at $911.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $389.61 billion, a PE ratio of 51.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $832.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $729.70. Netflix has a 12-month low of $461.86 and a 12-month high of $941.75.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The Internet television network reported $5.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.09 by $0.31. Netflix had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 35.86%. The company had revenue of $9.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Netflix will post 19.78 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 4,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $725.00, for a total transaction of $3,184,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,490,250. This trade represents a 25.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 45,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.16, for a total transaction of $31,981,986.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 85 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,023.60. This represents a 99.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,977 shares of company stock worth $129,317,467 over the last ninety days. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Netflix

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Netflix in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Netflix in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Netflix by 700.0% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 48 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Netflix during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Netflix during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Netflix Company Profile

Netflix, Inc provides entertainment services. It offers TV series, documentaries, feature films, and games across various genres and languages. The company also provides members the ability to receive streaming content through a host of internet-connected devices, including TVs, digital video players, TV set-top boxes, and mobile devices.