Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 244 shares of the Internet television network’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Netflix by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,951,347 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $12,023,082,000 after acquiring an additional 426,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Netflix by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,148,356 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $6,464,736,000 after purchasing an additional 123,029 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Netflix by 4.7% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,990,874 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $4,958,417,000 after purchasing an additional 316,594 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Netflix by 0.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,897,389 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $3,473,571,000 after purchasing an additional 23,702 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Netflix by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,527,446 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $4,035,404,000 after purchasing an additional 45,507 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Netflix Trading Up 3.1 %

Netflix stock opened at $918.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $392.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.29, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.38. Netflix, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $542.01 and a fifty-two week high of $1,064.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $951.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $848.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The Internet television network reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.20 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $10.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Netflix had a net margin of 22.34% and a return on equity of 38.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Netflix, Inc. will post 24.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard N. Barton sold 6,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $879.38, for a total value of $5,596,374.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $216,327.48. The trade was a 96.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 35,868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.08, for a total transaction of $31,853,653.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,241.12. This trade represents a 99.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 288,103 shares of company stock worth $279,142,041. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NFLX shares. Arete Research upgraded Netflix to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on Netflix from $1,000.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Netflix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Netflix from $850.00 to $960.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Netflix from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $940.00 to $1,150.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Netflix has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,014.26.

About Netflix

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.