Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $47.82, but opened at $50.90. Roblox shares last traded at $50.2310, with a volume of 1,138,611 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on RBLX shares. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Roblox from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Roblox in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Roblox from $46.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Roblox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Roblox from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.61.

Roblox Trading Up 6.2%

The stock has a market cap of $34.02 billion, a PE ratio of -35.46 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.40.

Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by $0.08. Roblox had a negative net margin of 17.60% and a negative return on equity of 292.85%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.41) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Roblox Corporation will post -1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Roblox

In related news, CFO Naveen K. Chopra sold 17,509 shares of Roblox stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.96, for a total transaction of $664,641.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 363,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,788,932.04. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Gregory Baszucki sold 16,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.69, for a total value of $961,461.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,277,835 shares in the company, valued at $73,718,301.15. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 185,236 shares of company stock worth $7,538,642. 10.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Roblox by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,953,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,589,282,000 after buying an additional 2,184,439 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Roblox by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,220,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $988,002,000 after buying an additional 547,103 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Roblox by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 7,126,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,054,000 after buying an additional 497,625 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Roblox by 83.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 5,774,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,586,000 after acquiring an additional 2,631,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Roblox in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,424,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.46% of the company’s stock.

Roblox Company Profile

Roblox Corporation develops and operates Roblox, an online platform where users can create, share and play interactive experiences. The platform supports a broad range of user-generated content, including games, social spaces, educational activities and entertainment experiences, and is accessible across computers, mobile devices, consoles and other supported platforms.

Roblox provides development tools through Roblox Studio, while its virtual economy uses Robux, a digital currency that users can purchase and spend on virtual items, avatar customization and other platform content.