Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Raised to Strong-Buy at UBS Group

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) was upgraded by research analysts at UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ROKU. Citigroup raised Roku from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Sunday, March 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Roku to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Roku from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Compass Point assumed coverage on Roku in a research report on Sunday, March 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Roku in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Roku presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.55.

Roku Stock Down 4.7 %

ROKU stock opened at $72.49 on Thursday. The stock 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 twelve month low of $48.33 and a twelve month high of $104.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.59.

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

Insider Transactions at Roku

In related news, CFO Dan Jedda sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $75,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 68,843 shares in the company, valued at $5,163,225. The trade was a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 1,906 shares of Roku stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total value of $153,166.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,256 shares in the company, valued at $583,092.16. This trade represents a 20.80 % 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. 13.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Roku

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Roku by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 627 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. United Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Roku by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Roku by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,984,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Roku by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 15,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Roku by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.30% of the company’s stock.

Roku Company Profile

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.