Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and twenty-three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $807.70.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NFLX. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Netflix from $625.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut Netflix from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Netflix from $760.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Netflix from $850.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $750.00 target price on shares of Netflix in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Netflix Price Performance

NASDAQ:NFLX opened at $902.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Netflix has a one year low of $461.86 and a one year high of $941.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $829.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $726.56. The stock has a market cap of $385.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.05, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.27.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The Internet television network reported $5.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.09 by $0.31. Netflix had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 35.86%. The business had revenue of $9.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. Analysts anticipate that Netflix will post 19.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Netflix

In related news, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 48,363 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.60, for a total value of $43,362,265.80. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 114 shares in the company, valued at $102,212.40. This represents a 99.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 4,392 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $725.00, for a total transaction of $3,184,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,490,250. This represents a 25.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 164,977 shares of company stock worth $129,317,467 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Netflix

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NFLX. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Netflix in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Netflix during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its stake in Netflix by 380.0% in the second quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 48 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Netflix by 700.0% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 48 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Netflix during the third quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Netflix Company Profile

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.