Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $75.69, but opened at $80.17. Roku shares last traded at $80.91, with a volume of 2,249,983 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ROKU. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Roku in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Roku from $61.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group initiated coverage on Roku in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Moffett Nathanson raised Roku from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Roku from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Roku currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.62.

Roku Trading Down 1.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.91 billion, a PE ratio of -68.36 and a beta of 2.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.83.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Roku had a negative return on equity of 7.22% and a negative net margin of 4.42%. The company’s revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.33) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Roku, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Roku

In related news, CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,875,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 5,020 shares in the company, valued at $376,500. This trade represents a 83.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Dan Jedda sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $75,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 65,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,916,625. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 88,550 shares of company stock worth $6,621,873. 13.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Roku

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Roku by 238.6% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after buying an additional 51,815 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Roku by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 75,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,672,000 after buying an additional 13,590 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Roku in the 3rd quarter valued at about $129,015,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Roku by 240.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 41,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after buying an additional 29,521 shares during the period. Finally, EULAV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Roku by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 183,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,663,000 after buying an additional 68,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.