Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on NFLX. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Netflix from $625.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Netflix from $1,000.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Netflix from $875.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Netflix from $820.00 to $835.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Netflix from $758.00 to $797.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $996.94.

Netflix Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NFLX traded up $30.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $984.86. The company had a trading volume of 7,742,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,807,119. Netflix has a 12 month low of $537.07 and a 12 month high of $999.00. The stock has a market cap of $420.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $889.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $763.41.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The Internet television network reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.20 by $0.07. Netflix had a net margin of 22.34% and a return on equity of 39.48%. The company had revenue of $10.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10,141,900 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Netflix will post 23.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Netflix

In related news, Director Richard N. Barton sold 5,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $756.00, for a total value of $4,307,688.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $185,976. The trade was a 95.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Reed Hastings sold 35,868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.08, for a total value of $31,853,653.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 114 shares in the company, valued at $101,241.12. The trade was a 99.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,198 shares of company stock worth $127,616,898 over the last three months. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Netflix

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NFLX. DigitalBridge Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Netflix by 35.5% in the second quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 36,063 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $24,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,451 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Netflix by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 848,150 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $760,918,000 after acquiring an additional 156,958 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Netflix by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,579,404 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $1,829,494,000 after acquiring an additional 29,726 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Netflix by 2.0% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 612,458 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $434,398,000 after acquiring an additional 11,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Netflix by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 41,946 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $29,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

About Netflix

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.