Wedbush Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU)

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by equities researchers at Wedbush in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $155.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 0.98% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore downgraded Roku from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. KeyCorp lowered Roku from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. William Blair downgraded shares of Roku from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Roku from $126.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Fox Advisors set a $157.00 target price on shares of Roku in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nineteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.17.

Roku Price Performance

Roku stock opened at $153.49 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $152.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.65. Roku has a 12-month low of $78.53 and a 12-month high of $159.89. The company has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.59 and a beta of 2.05.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.47. Roku had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 6.82%.The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Roku will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mustafa Ozgen sold 3,410 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $530,732.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,979,559.16. This trade represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Gilbert Fuchsberg sold 4,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $750,807.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 40,168 shares in the company, valued at $6,251,747.52. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 112,285 shares of company stock valued at $16,939,414 over the last ninety days. 13.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Roku

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bayban grew its holdings in shares of Roku by 1,300.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Roku by 208.7% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Roku in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Roku by 175.0% during the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Roku by 96.8% during the 1st quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Roku

Roku, Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) operates a television streaming platform that connects consumers with digital entertainment. Its Roku operating system powers streaming players, Roku-branded televisions and smart-TV products made by licensing partners. The platform provides access to streaming services, live television, movies, music and other applications.

The company also operates The Roku Channel, its own ad-supported streaming service offering licensed and original content, including movies, television programs, live channels and premium subscription options.