Neil Hunt Sells 2,000 Shares of Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) Stock

Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROKU) Director Neil Hunt sold 2,000 shares of Roku stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.11, for a total transaction of $244,220.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,782 shares in the company, valued at $950,260.02. The trade was a 20.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Roku Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of ROKU traded down $1.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $124.44. 2,822,132 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,312,268. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $101.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.06. The company has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.57 and a beta of 2.04. Roku, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.77 and a 12 month high of $127.90.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.23. Roku had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Roku, Inc. will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Roku

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ROKU. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Roku by 275.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,586,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897,407 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Roku by 7,087.7% during the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,421,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401,664 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Roku by 352.3% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,650,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,585 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Roku during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,808,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Roku by 380.9% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 882,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,787,000 after buying an additional 699,336 shares during the last quarter. 86.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Roku

Here are the key news stories impacting Roku this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat — Roku reported stronger-than-expected Q1 revenue and EPS with platform revenue surging and record free cash flow, supporting the company’s ad/subscription monetization thesis. ROKU Shares Rise 6% on Q1 Earnings Beat, Revenues and EPS Up Y/Y
• Positive Sentiment: Content and distribution additions — Roku added 15 new free channels to its platform, which can increase engagement, ad inventory and potential ad revenue. Roku Just Added 15 New Channels — And They’re All Free
• Positive Sentiment: New low-cost subscription (Howdy) — Roku’s Howdy $3/month service is getting coverage as a viable low-price add-on that could drive ARPU and reduce churn if adoption scales. Here’s Why Howdy, Roku’s Low-Cost Streaming Service, Is Worth Your $3/Month
• Positive Sentiment: Structural cost/market tailwind — analysis suggests Roku’s low-memory hardware footprint may benefit it amid rising memory prices, potentially protecting margins vs. peers. How ROKU Stock Could Be One of the Biggest Winners of Sky-High Memory Prices
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst update — Citigroup raised its price target to $120 but kept a “neutral” rating, signaling mixed analyst sentiment and implying limited near-term upside from that house. Benzinga coverage of analyst update
• Negative Sentiment: Class-action lawsuits alleging updates “bricked” TCL TVs running Roku software — multiple outlets report a new suit accusing Roku (with TCL) of shipping updates that rendered devices unusable; litigation and reputational risk could pressure the stock and lead to legal costs or remedial expenses. TCL and Roku sued for allegedly bricking TVs with updates Roku and TCL are being sued for allegedly bricking smart TVs ROKU and TCL accused of bricking TVs in new class action lawsuit

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROKU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Roku in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Roku from $118.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on shares of Roku from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Roku from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Roku from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.17.

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.