Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Stock

Key Points

• Citigroup raised its price target on Roku from $100 to $120 but kept a neutral rating; the street consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $142.17.
• Roku topped quarterly expectations with $0.57 EPS vs. $0.34 and revenue of $1.25B (up 22.4% year‑over‑year), and the stock is trading near its one‑year high (~$126–$127) with a market cap of $18.65B.
• Insiders have sold a total of 630,182 shares (~$66.9M) in the last 90 days, including CEO Anthony Wood, although institutional ownership remains high at 86.3%.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $100.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Citigroup's target price would indicate a potential downside of 5.12% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Roku from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Roku from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Roku in a report on Friday. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Roku from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Roku in a report on Friday. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Roku currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.17.

Roku Stock Performance

Shares of Roku stock traded up $2.89 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $126.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,250,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,299,190. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $100.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.88. Roku has a one year low of $58.77 and a one year high of $127.90. The stock has a market cap of $18.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.09 and a beta of 2.04.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.23. Roku had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Roku will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Roku

In other Roku news, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.68, for a total transaction of $4,984,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gilbert Fuchsberg sold 3,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.57, for a total transaction of $310,602.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,777,779.92. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 630,182 shares of company stock worth $66,865,773 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Roku by 2.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,998,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,301,557,000 after purchasing an additional 322,858 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Roku by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,860,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $310,298,000 after purchasing an additional 274,024 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Roku by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,464,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,389,000 after purchasing an additional 168,214 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Roku by 352.3% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,650,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Roku by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,509,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $163,786,000 after purchasing an additional 12,705 shares in the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Roku Company Profile

Roku, Inc NASDAQ: ROKU is a technology company that develops and operates a proprietary streaming platform designed to deliver entertainment content to consumers via internet-connected devices and smart televisions. Since its inception in 2002 in California, Roku has focused on simplifying access to streaming services for viewers worldwide. The company's platform enables users to discover, access and manage a wide array of over-the-top content from major streaming services, free ad-supported channels and niche providers.

At the core of Roku's product lineup are a range of streaming players and sticks, which connect to televisions via HDMI and deliver the Roku OS experience.

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