Wedbush Drops Coverage on Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU)

Wedbush dropped coverage on shares of Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage had previously set a “neutral” rating on the stock.

ROKU has been the subject of several other reports. Guggenheim cut Roku from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Fox Advisors set a $157.00 price target on Roku in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Roku from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Roku in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Roku from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.22.

Roku Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROKU opened at $159.65 on Tuesday. Roku has a one year low of $78.53 and a one year high of $163.57. The firm has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.23 and a beta of 2.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $155.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.99.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.65. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Roku had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 9.34%. The company’s revenue was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Roku will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Roku

In other Roku news, insider Mustafa Ozgen sold 3,410 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $530,732.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,979,559.16. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Dan Jedda sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.81, for a total value of $1,097,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 74,811 shares in the company, valued at $11,731,112.91. This represents a 8.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 88,028 shares of company stock worth $13,645,922 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Roku by 229.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,038,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,772 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P purchased a new stake in Roku in the 2nd quarter worth $163,604,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Roku by 22.8% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,565,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,090,000 after acquiring an additional 290,200 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Roku during the second quarter worth $105,216,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Roku by 5.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,082,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,450,000 after acquiring an additional 56,893 shares during the period. 86.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Roku

These are some of the ROKU headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Roku is ending its smart-home product business after about four years to concentrate resources on streaming. A tighter focus could support execution in its core market, though the articles provide no estimate of cost savings or business impact. Roku is dumping its smart home products to refocus on streaming
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush dropped coverage of Roku. This is not, by itself, a rating downgrade or a change to an earnings forecast. Wedbush Drops Coverage on Roku
• Negative Sentiment: Discontinuing smart-home devices removes a product line and could limit Roku’s diversification beyond streaming, although the articles do not quantify its contribution to revenue or profit. Roku bails out of Smart Home market after four years

About Roku

Roku, Inc. provides a streaming platform that connects viewers with television and other digital video content. Its products include streaming players and Roku-branded televisions, as well as the Roku operating system, which the company licenses to television manufacturers. Roku also operates a platform business that supports streaming services and advertisers. Its offerings include the Roku Channel, an ad-supported streaming service, and tools for distributing content and delivering advertising to viewers.