Atika Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Atika Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,850 shares of the Internet television network’s stock after selling 3,150 shares during the period. Atika Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Netflix were worth $6,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Netflix by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 848,150 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $760,918,000 after buying an additional 156,958 shares in the last quarter. First National Trust Co raised its holdings in Netflix by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 1,258 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Haven Private LLC purchased a new position in Netflix during the fourth quarter worth approximately $733,000. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in Netflix by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,572 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Netflix by 4.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 41,946 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $29,751,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Netflix

In related news, Director Ann Mather sold 2,682 shares of Netflix stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $973.00, for a total value of $2,609,586.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 102,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.74, for a total transaction of $100,259,088.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,700,583. This trade represents a 88.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 280,676 shares of company stock worth $273,515,672. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Netflix Price Performance

Netflix stock opened at $855.86 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $970.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $875.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. Netflix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $542.01 and a 1 year high of $1,064.50. The company has a market capitalization of $366.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.38.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The Internet television network reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.20 by $0.07. Netflix had a return on equity of 38.32% and a net margin of 22.34%. The company had revenue of $10.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Netflix, Inc. will post 24.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NFLX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Netflix from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Netflix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Netflix from $800.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Netflix from $965.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Netflix from $1,000.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,023.74.

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.