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 released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on ROKU. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Roku in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of Roku in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America began coverage on Roku in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Roku in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Roku from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued 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 Trading Down 4.7 %

Shares of ROKU opened at $72.49 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.59. The stock has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a PE ratio of -81.45 and a beta of 2.12. Roku has a 1 year low of $48.33 and a 1 year high of $104.96.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Roku had a negative net margin of 3.15% and a negative return on equity of 5.34%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Roku will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dan Jedda sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $75,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 68,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,163,225. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,908 shares of company stock valued at $8,633,436. Insiders own 13.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Roku

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROKU. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Roku by 73.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 101,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,580,000 after purchasing an additional 42,837 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Roku by 11.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,981,000 after buying an additional 2,644 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Roku by 37.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 505,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,735,000 after acquiring an additional 137,259 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Roku by 152.4% during the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 79,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,899,000 after acquiring an additional 47,700 shares during the period. Finally, JAT Capital Mgmt LP grew its holdings in shares of Roku by 470.2% during the 3rd quarter. JAT Capital Mgmt LP now owns 540,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,359,000 after purchasing an additional 445,777 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.30% of the company’s stock.

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.