Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Buys New Stake in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 354 shares of the Internet television network’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. West Michigan Advisors LLC increased its stake in Netflix by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 776 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Warwick Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Netflix by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 298 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its stake in Netflix by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC increased its stake in Netflix by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC now owns 462 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in Netflix by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,826 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $3,410,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Netflix Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ NFLX opened at $1,222.29 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,138.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,006.33. Netflix, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $587.04 and a fifty-two week high of $1,262.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $520.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The Internet television network reported $6.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.74 by $0.87. Netflix had a net margin of 23.07% and a return on equity of 39.61%. The business had revenue of $10.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Netflix, Inc. will post 24.58 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Netflix from $1,150.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,150.00 price objective (up previously from $1,100.00) on shares of Netflix in a report on Friday, April 18th. Wolfe Research set a $1,340.00 price objective on shares of Netflix and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Netflix from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Netflix from $1,200.00 to $1,425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Netflix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,156.73.

Insider Activity at Netflix

In other Netflix news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,141.51, for a total value of $2,313,840.77. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,589,639.31. This trade represents a 13.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jeffrey William Karbowski sold 480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $978.18, for a total transaction of $469,526.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 185,140 shares of company stock worth $210,271,552 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

About Netflix

Netflix, Inc provides entertainment services. It offers TV series, documentaries, feature films, and games across various genres and languages. The company also provides members the ability to receive streaming content through a host of internet-connected devices, including TVs, digital video players, TV set-top boxes, and mobile devices.