Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Cuts Holdings in Roku, Inc. $ROKU

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management sharply reduced its Roku position in the fourth quarter, cutting its stake by 86.2% after selling 400,082 shares. It ended the period with 63,809 shares valued at about $6.9 million.
• Roku reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.57 versus estimates of $0.34 and revenue of $1.25 billion, up 22.4% year over year. The company also beat revenue expectations and moved back to profitability with a 4.06% net margin.
• Despite some insider selling, analysts remain generally constructive on Roku, with 21 Buy ratings and five Hold ratings. The consensus price target is $143.42, above the stock’s recent price of $125.55.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its stake in Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU - Free Report) by 86.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,809 shares of the company's stock after selling 400,082 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Roku were worth $6,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Roku by 680.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 234 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Aventura Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Roku in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Roku in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Roku in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Roku in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 86.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Roku Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:ROKU opened at $125.55 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $108.89 and a 200 day moving average of $103.56. Roku, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.67 and a 52 week high of $131.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.40 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.23. Roku had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 7.64%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Roku, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Roku

In related news, insider Charles Collier sold 20,538 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.23, for a total transaction of $2,551,435.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,700 shares in the company, valued at $956,571. This represents a 72.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Dan Jedda sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.56, for a total transaction of $857,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 71,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,715,854.40. This represents a 8.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 692,038 shares of company stock worth $76,667,575 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Roku in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Benchmark boosted 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, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Roku from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Roku from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Roku from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $143.42.

About Roku

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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