Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,520,000 shares, an increase of 40.2% from the October 31st total of 8,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,760,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Roku Price Performance

Shares of Roku stock traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.03. 1,540,099 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,046,129. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.63 and a 200 day moving average of $65.36. Roku has a fifty-two week low of $48.33 and a fifty-two week high of $108.84.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.29. Roku had a negative net margin of 4.42% and a negative return on equity of 7.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($2.33) earnings per share. Roku’s quarterly revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Roku will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Roku news, insider Charles Collier sold 15,454 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,159,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,000. This trade represents a 98.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gilbert Fuchsberg sold 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.39, for a total value of $109,012.27. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,485,582.78. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,240 shares of company stock valued at $6,729,582 over the last three months. 13.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Roku

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Roku during the first quarter worth $1,180,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Roku by 238.6% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after acquiring an additional 51,815 shares during the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Roku by 21.8% in the third quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 75,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,672,000 after purchasing an additional 13,590 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Roku by 240.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 41,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,724,000 after purchasing an additional 29,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management raised its stake in Roku by 59.1% during the third quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 183,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,663,000 after purchasing an additional 68,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROKU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Roku from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Roku from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Roku from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Guggenheim raised Roku from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Roku from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.62.

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.