Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Shares Up 5.2% – Here’s Why

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU)’s stock price traded up 5.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $92.69 and last traded at $92.28. 3,830,590 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 0% from the average session volume of 3,838,915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.68.

Trending Headlines about Roku

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roku rolled out 17 new free channels on The Roku Channel, expanding content selection that can boost viewer engagement and ad-revenue potential for the platform. Roku quietly rolls out a major free upgrade for users
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/investor coverage picked up — Zacks published pieces highlighting increased investor attention and listing Roku among must-watch streaming stocks — which can attract flows and re-rate sentiment after Roku’s recent earnings beat. Roku, Inc. (ROKU) is Attracting Investor Attention
• Positive Sentiment: New original/exclusive programming (example: The Reunion: Laguna Beach premiere on The Roku Channel) supports content-led engagement and subscription/ads upside on the platform. ‘The Reunion: Laguna Beach’ Gets Premiere Date On Roku Channel
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail discounting on Roku hardware (Streambar SE, Streaming Stick 4K, Streaming Stick Plus and Roku TV deals) is widespread — this likely boosts unit sales/market share but may compress hardware margins and lower ASPs. Coverage of these price cuts appeared across Gizmodo, Kotaku, Mashable and MSN. Roku’s 2-in-1 Soundbar and Streaming Combo Hits a New Low Roku Streambar SE Falls Below Its Black Friday Price The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is back on sale at Amazon
• Negative Sentiment: A Pocket-lint piece flags a limitation with the Roku Ultra’s Ethernet port that may surprise buyers — negative product PR can dent consumer confidence and complicate hardware upsell conversations. Your Roku Ultra’s Ethernet port doesn’t do what you think

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ROKU. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Roku from $116.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Roku in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Roku from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Roku from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Roku in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Roku currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.96.

Roku Trading Up 5.3%

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.54 and its 200-day moving average is $99.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a PE ratio of 172.65 and a beta of 1.99.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.25. Roku had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 3.40%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Roku, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Roku

In related news, CAO Matthew C. Banks sold 729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.04, for a total transaction of $79,490.16. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $635,158. This represents a 11.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.79, for a total value of $4,539,500.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 219,710 shares of company stock worth $22,761,608. 13.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Roku

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROKU. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Roku by 680.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Roku during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Roku in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Roku in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Roku during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.30% of the company’s stock.

Roku Company 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.