Roblox Corporation $RBLX Shares Bought by Allstate Corp

Key Points

• Allstate Corp boosted its Roblox stake by 119% in the fourth quarter, ending with 44,408 shares worth about $3.6 million.
• Several other hedge funds also increased holdings, and institutional investors own 94.46% of Roblox shares, showing heavy institutional interest in the stock.
• Roblox remains under pressure despite recent earnings growth: the stock was trading around $45.73, analysts have an average “Hold” rating, and the company recently authorized a $3 billion share buyback.

Allstate Corp grew its stake in shares of Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX - Free Report) by 119.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,408 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,127 shares during the period. Allstate Corp's holdings in Roblox were worth $3,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Roblox by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,294 shares of the company's stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Roblox by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 284 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Roblox by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,042 shares of the company's stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Roblox by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 20,043 shares of the company's stock worth $2,776,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Roblox by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,374 shares of the company's stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. 94.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Roblox

In other news, CAO Amy Marie Rawlings sold 2,895 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $130,969.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 35,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,594,167.12. The trade was a 7.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Sean Jack Buckley sold 4,744 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.36, for a total transaction of $219,931.84. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 97,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,503,456.76. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 183,471 shares of company stock worth $8,930,068. 10.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RBLX. Barclays cut their price objective on Roblox from $115.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America downgraded Roblox from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 1st. HSBC downgraded Roblox from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial downgraded Roblox from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Roblox in a report on Friday, May 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $87.07.

Roblox Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of RBLX opened at $45.73 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.09. 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 company has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a PE ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 1.50. Roblox Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $40.15 and a fifty-two week high of $150.59.

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

Roblox announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Roblox

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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