Legal & General Group Plc Boosts Stake in Roblox Corporation $RBLX

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its Roblox stake by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 2.72 million shares valued at about $220.5 million.
• Roblox’s latest earnings beat EPS expectations, reporting -$0.35 per share versus estimates of -$0.41, while revenue rose 43.4% year over year to $1.44 billion, though that still fell short of analyst forecasts.
• The company’s board approved a $3.0 billion share repurchase program, authorizing buybacks of up to 9.5% of outstanding shares, even as analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold”.

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,721,252 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 40,981 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.42% of Roblox worth $220,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RBLX. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. raised its stake in shares of Roblox by 164.4% in the fourth quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 312 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Roblox in the third quarter worth $26,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in Roblox during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in Roblox during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Roblox during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on RBLX shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on Roblox in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Roblox from $47.50 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Roblox from a "hold" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Roblox from $97.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Roblox in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Roblox has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $87.07.

Roblox Stock Performance

NYSE:RBLX opened at $45.73 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.09. Roblox Corporation has a 52-week low of $40.15 and a 52-week high of $150.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a PE ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 1.50.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.41) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. Roblox had a negative return on equity of 277.69% and a negative net margin of 20.69%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 43.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.32) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Roblox Corporation will post -1.4 EPS for the current year.

Roblox declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Roblox

In other news, insider Mark Reinstra sold 18,653 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.94, for a total value of $1,080,754.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 455,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,390,105.62. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Gregory Baszucki sold 16,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $965,794.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,302,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,499,230.30. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 183,471 shares of company stock valued at $8,930,068. 10.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Roblox Company Profile

Roblox Corporation operates Roblox, a user-generated online platform that enables people to create, share and monetize immersive 3D experiences and games. The core offering centers on Roblox Studio, a development environment that allows independent creators and studios to design interactive worlds using the company's building tools and scripting language. Content on the platform spans games, virtual hangouts, branded experiences and live events, all delivered through a persistent social environment.

Roblox's business model is built around its virtual economy and creator ecosystem.

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