Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Shares Up 5.9% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Roku shares increased by 5.9% following an upgrade from JPMorgan Chase & Co., which raised the price target from $100.00 to $105.00 and has an overweight rating on the stock.
• Several other firms also upgraded their ratings on Roku, with a consensus price target of $98.96 and a general rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Insider trading activity included CEO Anthony J. Wood selling 25,000 shares and CFO Dan Jedda selling 3,000 shares, indicating significant transactions among company leadership.

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU - Get Free Report) shot up 5.9% on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $105.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Roku traded as high as $85.42 and last traded at $84.70. 3,110,931 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 3,988,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.98.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ROKU. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Roku from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Loop Capital raised Roku from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Roku in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Roku from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Roku from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Roku

In related news, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of Roku stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,241,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,071,466.92. This trade represents a 67.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dan Jedda sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.20, for a total transaction of $270,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 76,132 shares in the company, valued at $6,867,106.40. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 308,873 shares of company stock valued at $28,076,913 over the last 90 days. 13.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Roku

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Roku by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 49,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,687,000 after buying an additional 22,600 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Roku by 152.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 14,268 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Roku in the 4th quarter worth about $4,351,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Roku in the 4th quarter worth about $272,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Roku by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,147,259 shares of the company's stock worth $159,353,000 after purchasing an additional 56,820 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.30% of the company's stock.

Roku Trading Up 6.4%

The stock's 50 day moving average is $83.77 and its 200-day moving average is $76.98. The company has a market cap of $12.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -202.29 and a beta of 2.05.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.23. Roku had a negative net margin of 1.40% and a negative return on equity of 2.47%. The business had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Roku, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

About Roku

Roku, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a TV streaming platform in the United states and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Platform and Devices. Its streaming platform allows users to find and access TV shows, movies, news, sports, and others. The Platform segment offers digital advertising, including direct and programmatic video advertising, media and entertainment promotional spending, and related services; and streaming services distribution, such as subscription and transaction revenue shares, and sale of premium subscriptions and branded app buttons on remote controls.

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