UBS Group Upgrades Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) to “Strong-Buy”

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) was upgraded by UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Roku from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. FBN Securities started coverage on shares of Roku in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $93.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised Roku from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Sunday, March 23rd. Moffett Nathanson raised Roku from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Roku in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.55.

Roku Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of ROKU opened at $72.49 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $81.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -81.45 and a beta of 2.12. Roku has a 12-month low of $48.33 and a 12-month high of $104.96.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Roku had a negative return on equity of 5.34% and a negative net margin of 3.15%. Equities research analysts expect that Roku will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of Roku stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,116,936.26. This trade represents a 48.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Collier sold 7,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $561,913.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $577,485. The trade was a 49.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,908 shares of company stock valued at $8,633,436. 13.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Roku

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Roku by 369.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Roku in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in shares of Roku in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Roku during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Roku by 4,091.7% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is owned by 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.