Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) traded up 1.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $949.55 and last traded at $942.26. 1,107,842 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 3,583,612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $928.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NFLX shares. Wolfe Research raised Netflix from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Netflix from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $975.00 to $1,200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Netflix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Netflix from $725.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Netflix from $650.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.02.

Netflix Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $403.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $974.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $872.78. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The Internet television network reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.20 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $10.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Netflix had a net margin of 22.34% and a return on equity of 38.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Netflix, Inc. will post 24.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jeffrey William Karbowski sold 480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $978.18, for a total value of $469,526.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Strive Masiyiwa sold 2,813 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,007.87, for a total transaction of $2,835,138.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 288,583 shares of company stock valued at $279,611,567. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Netflix

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Netflix during the fourth quarter worth $5,019,087,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Netflix by 123,836.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,925,977 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $1,716,662,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,423 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Netflix by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,301,098 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $2,051,016,000 after purchasing an additional 856,307 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Netflix by 318.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 976,924 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $870,752,000 after purchasing an additional 743,724 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Netflix by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,574,006 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $4,076,903,000 after buying an additional 570,674 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.