Short Interest in Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) Expands By 17.1%

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,190,000 shares, an increase of 17.1% from the April 30th total of 7,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 7.4% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ROKU shares. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Roku from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Roku from $81.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Roku from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Roku in a research note on Sunday, March 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Roku from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Roku currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.37.

Roku Stock Performance

Shares of Roku stock traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $74.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,842,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,074,446. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $65.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.40. Roku has a one year low of $48.33 and a one year high of $104.96. The stock has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -83.82 and a beta of 2.06.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.08. Roku had a negative return on equity of 5.34% and a negative net margin of 3.15%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.35) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Roku will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Roku

In related news, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,875,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at $468,225. The trade was a 80.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 629 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.98, for a total value of $45,904.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $624,343.90. This represents a 6.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,642 shares of company stock valued at $2,370,040. 13.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Roku

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROKU. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Roku during the first quarter valued at $68,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Roku during the 1st quarter valued at $3,984,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Roku by 456.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,905,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,449 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in Roku during the 1st quarter worth approximately $229,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Roku by 217.4% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,663 shares of the company's stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.30% of the company's stock.

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.