Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Roku, Inc. $ROKU

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC opened a new position in Roku during the fourth quarter, buying 10,246 shares valued at about $1.11 million.
• Roku continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with 86.3% of the stock owned by institutional investors, even as some large holders increased or initiated positions in recent quarters.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: several firms recently set or raised $155–$160 price targets, but Susquehanna downgraded Roku to neutral, leaving the consensus rating at Hold.

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,112,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Roku by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Roku in the 1st quarter worth approximately $229,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Roku by 145.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the company's stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Roku by 231.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 70,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,221,000 after buying an additional 49,399 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Roku during the second quarter valued at approximately $326,000. 86.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna lowered Roku from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Roku from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Fox Advisors set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Roku in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $140.00) on shares of Roku in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $155.00 target price on shares of Roku in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Roku has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $153.71.

Key Stories Impacting Roku

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roku is at the center of renewed M&A speculation, with articles highlighting its large user base as a valuable asset and suggesting the company could benefit from consolidation in streaming and digital distribution. Roku is reportedly exploring a sale, and its 100 million users are the biggest prize
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage of Fox’s move involving Roku has reinforced the idea that Roku sits on a valuable streaming gateway, which could make the company more strategically important to larger media players. How Roku became way more important than you realize
• Positive Sentiment: Roku continues to be promoted in “streaming stocks to watch” and buyout-focused commentary, which can keep investor interest elevated even without a formal deal announcement. The Netflix-Lionsgate Rumor Exposed a Bigger Shift in Media M&A (ROKU)
• Neutral Sentiment: ARK Invest reportedly reduced its Roku position again while increasing exposure to other tech and AI names, suggesting some portfolio rotation away from Roku rather than a fundamental thesis change. Cathie Wood buys more Tesla, cuts Roku as ARK doubles down on AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Roku is also getting consumer-facing attention from discounted hardware promotions and stock-watch list coverage, but these headlines are unlikely to move the shares much on their own. Roku Streaming Stick Plus 4K & HDR is under $37
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage is turning more cautious, warning that a potential Fox-Roku deal could raise distribution-bias concerns and that buyout investors may not get as much value as they hoped. Fox's Roku deal raises concerns over distribution bias
• Negative Sentiment: A separate article says the latest YouTube TV update is causing problems for some Roku owners, which could weigh on sentiment if it points to platform friction for users. Latest YouTube TV update is making life miserable for some Roku owners

Insider Activity at Roku

In other Roku news, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.79, for a total value of $9,659,250.00. The transaction 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. Also, insider Charles Collier sold 205,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $21,611,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,168,755. This represents a 94.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 713,194 shares of company stock valued at $81,763,589 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.45% of the company's stock.

Roku Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROKU opened at $138.07 on Friday. Roku, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.64 and a fifty-two week high of $148.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.74. The company has a market capitalization of $20.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.81 and a beta of 2.06.

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

Roku 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ROKU? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.