Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd Trims Position in Roku, Inc. $ROKU

Key Points

• Contrarius Group Holdings cut its Roku stake by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 25,513 shares and leaving it with 104,002 shares worth about $11.3 million.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Roku, with 22 analysts rating it a Buy and a consensus target price of $145.29, even as a few firms maintain Hold ratings.
• Roku’s recent results and news were upbeat: the company beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, while new free channels and a low-cost streaming bundle may help support engagement and device sales.

Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd trimmed its holdings in Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU - Free Report) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,002 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,513 shares during the period. Roku accounts for approximately 0.5% of Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of Roku worth $11,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROKU. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Roku by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the company's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Roku in the first quarter valued at approximately $229,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Roku by 145.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Roku by 231.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 70,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,221,000 after purchasing an additional 49,399 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Roku in the second quarter valued at approximately $326,000. 86.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROKU shares. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Roku in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Roku in a report on Friday, May 15th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Roku from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Pivotal Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up from $140.00) on shares of Roku in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Roku from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Roku currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.29.

Insider Activity at Roku

In other Roku news, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 546 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total value of $69,483.96. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,725 shares in the company, valued at $983,083.50. The trade was a 6.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Christopher T. Handman sold 2,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total transaction of $381,652.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,998 shares in the company, valued at $763,305.48. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 696,631 shares of company stock valued at $77,636,680. 13.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Roku Stock Performance

ROKU stock opened at $122.26 on Monday. Roku, Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.91 and a 1 year high of $133.46. The firm has a market cap of $18.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.93 and a beta of 2.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.21.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Roku had a return on equity of 7.64% and a net margin of 4.06%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Roku, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Roku News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roku continues to expand its free ad-supported streaming lineup, adding new channels including Sports Illustrated and FIFA Plus, plus four more free channels in June. That supports engagement on The Roku Channel and could improve ad inventory and viewing time. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company also launched a $25 bundle pairing the Streaming Stick Plus with Fox One, which may help drive device sales and keep Roku’s ecosystem competitive. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Roku has been benefiting from a bullish narrative around its growing household reach and stronger live-sports positioning, which investors may see as supportive of future ad and platform revenue. Article Title

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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