Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Shares Up 2.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) shot up 2.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $130.72 and last traded at $129.53. 2,043,896 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 3,274,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $126.67.

Key Stories Impacting Roku

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roku said CFO and COO Dan Jedda will speak at two upcoming industry conferences on May 12 and May 13, which can help keep investor attention on the company and give management a platform to discuss strategy and growth. Roku Chief Financial Officer to Present at Upcoming Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insider sale reports were published this week, including stock sales by a director and other executives, but these filings are routine disclosures and do not necessarily signal a change in business fundamentals. Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Director Sells $244,220.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: News reports alleged that Roku and TCL software updates have “bricked” some TVs, which could raise concerns about product quality, customer trust, and potential legal or repair costs if the claims gain traction. Lawsuit accuses Roku, TCL of ‘bricking’ TVs with defective software updates

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROKU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Roku from $115.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Roku from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Roku from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on Roku from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Roku from $118.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.17.

Roku Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $19.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.39 and a beta of 2.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.52.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.23. Roku had a return on equity of 7.64% and a net margin of 4.06%.The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Roku, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Roku

In related news, insider Gilbert Fuchsberg sold 9,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.52, for a total value of $1,204,113.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 50,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,384,323.76. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Neil D. Hunt sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.11, for a total value of $244,220.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $950,260.02. The trade was a 20.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 663,038 shares of company stock worth $70,956,545 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Roku by 18.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Roku by 0.8% in the first quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 47,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,531,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Roku by 3.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 750,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,980,000 after purchasing an additional 22,657 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Roku by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Roku by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 258,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.30% of the company’s stock.

About Roku

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.